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S^'SS 



PICKETT 
AND HIS MEN 



m-Mi^Mimi^m-^sim^^M^m 



LaSALLE CORBELL PICKETT 

(Mrs. Gen. George E. Pickett) 



SECOND EDITION 



ATLANTA, GA. 

THE FOOTE & DAVIES COMPANY 

Pkinters and Bindeks 

1900 



P57 p<f I 



Copyright, 1899, 
By LaSalle Corbell Pickett. 



Al/ ri^f/i/s reseri'cci . 



Gift 
"'^R 16 1925 



DEDICATION. 

To my husband, the noble leader of that band of heroes whose deeds 
are sparkling jewels set in the history of the great Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, I would gladly inscribe this book — to him alone, to whom my life 
has been dedicated; but remembering how often, in the humility of his 
great soul, he has said, "I did not do it — my men did it all," I feel that 
he would be better pleased to know that the brave men whom he led 
through those four long, dark years have held a high place in my thought 
as I have written. Hence — 

To the men of Pickett's Division, who yet clasp hands with me in 
the friendship that was cemented in blood to grow stronger through all 
the passing years, and to the memory of those who have gone from our 
sight to be ever present in our hearts and on the most glorious page of 
our country's history, this volume is lovingly dedicated. 



PREFACE. 

Why do I write this book? To add my tribute to the 
memory of my hero husband and the noble men who fol- 
lowed him through the trials, dangers and hardships of a 
four years' war. The impulse which moves me is love, 
and I have endeavored that nothing should be written un- 
worthy of that motive. If anything expressed or implied 
shall give pain to any, whether he wore the gray or the 
blue, it is contrary to the purpose or the wishes of the 
author — contrary to the chivalrous soul of the soldier 
and patriot, George E. Pickett, whose courage and con- 
stancy this work is intended to commemorate. 

In the compilation of this record the reader must know 
that I could not bring personal witness to the events de- 
scribed. They are based upon the official and other re- 
ports of eye-witnesses and participants. In treating of 
the maneuvers and engagements herein mentioned, I have 
excluded every disparaging statement which the facts of 
history and justice to all participants would possibly per- 
mit. I have purposely avoided reading histories of the 
conflict by authors on both sides, and based my own nar- 
rative upon original material, to avoid the possibility of 
traveling over ground already covered by others. 

Upon the battle-field I visited last year grew a wonder- 
ful wealth of white daisies, piled drift upon drift like the 
banks of snow that glitter in the light of the winter sun. 
So blossom the flowers of peace and love and hope in the 
hearts which yet fondly cherish the memory of the long- 
gone days of darkness and of blood. 



VIII PREFACE. 

Though the dream nation about which clustered so 
many beautiful visions will never take its place among 
the courts and powers of the world; though the ideal 
which led the South through efforts of heroism not sur- 
passed in all the records of the world will never be crys- 
tallized into that reality known to mortal eyes, yet in that 
higher realm of thought, where the ideal is the true real, 
it dwells in transcendent glory which transmutes into a 
golden veil of light the war-clouds by which it was en- 
shrouded. 

"That dream nation did not crumble into ruins and fade 
away into naught. The setting sun reflected from its 
gleaming minarets makes more radiant the light by which 
our united country marches on its way to national glory 
The bells in its towers ring out a paean to swell the grand 
symphony which circles the world. 

The gallant sons of heroic fathers who fell on battle- 
fields of North and South now stand together to defend 
our common country. Side by side North and South are 
marching against the foe; step by step they keep time 
to the mingled notes of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and 
" Dixie," blending into the noblest battle-hymn that ever 
thrilled the heart of soldier to deeds immortal. 

Three phases of loyalty sway the Southern heart to- 
day — loyalty to memory, loyalty to present duty, loyalty 
to hope. There is no rivalry among these phases of the 
same noble sentiment. Together they work for the evolu- 
tion of a regenerated nation. He who is untrue to the 
past is recreant to the present and faithless to the future. 

LaSalle Corbell Pickett. 

Washington, D. C, 

August 7-5, z8gS. 



CONTENTS. 



CRAPTEE. PAGE. 

I. — The Fall of Richmond ........ 1-9 

II. — Anxiety, Suspense, Loneliness 10-16 

III. — "Whoa, Lucy" 17-21 

IV. — George Junior's First Greenback 22-28 

V. — "Skookum TuM-TUM " 29-33 

VI. — Carpet-bag, Basket and Baby 34-46 

VII. — " Edwards IS Better " 47-51 

VIII. — One Woman Redeemed Them Al' .... 52-Co 

IX. — A Familiar Face 61-G6 

X. — Visitors, Shilling a Dozen — Our Left-handers 67-76 

XI. — Born With Emeralds — Nemo Nocetur . . . 77-85 

XII. — Turkey Island 86-89 

XIII. — Mexican and Indian Wars 90-98 

XIV. — San Juan gg-iio 

XV. — San Juan Continued iii-i;25 

XVI. — Pickett's West Point Appointment and Military 

Services in the United States Army . . 126-129 

XVII. — Slavery 130-138 

XVIII. — Secession 139-153 

XIX. — At Yorktown and Williamsburg 154-161 

XX, — Seven Pines 162-174 

XXI. — Gaines's Mill 175-186 

XXII. — Frazier's Farm 187-igo 

XXIII. — Second Manassas 191-194 

XXIV. — Antietam 195-204 

XXV. — Reorganization 205-211 

XXVI. — Pickett's Generals 212-218 

XXVII. — Fredericksburg 219-232 

XXVIII. — "Dogs OF War " IN Leash 233-235 

XXIX. — Foraging Expedition — Suffolk 236-239 

XXX. — Chancellorsville 240-249 

XXXI. — The High Tide of the Confederacy .... 250-256 

XXXII. — Pennsylvania Campaign ........ 257-266 

IX 



X CONTENTS 

CHArTEE. PAGE. 

XXXIII. — Gettysburg — First Day ....... 267-279 

XXXIV. — Gettysburg — Second Day 280-292 

XXXV. — Gettysburg — Third Day ....... 293-309 

XXXVI. — Where Were the Guns? ....... 310-314 

XXXVII. — Detailed for Special Duty 315-323 

XXXVIII. — Twice Tears to Smiles 324-329 

XXXIX. — Newbern 330-336 

XL. — Pickett's Voluntary Defense of Petersburg . 337-344 
XLI. — A Strange Birthday Celebration .... 345-351 

XLII. — Cold Harbor 352-356 

XLIII. — "Lee's MisERABLES " 357-361 

XLIV. — The Bermuda Hundred Lines 362-370 

XLV. — The Peace Commission — The Last Review of 

Pickett's Division 371-37S 

XLVI. — On to Dinwiddie Court-house 379-384 

XLVII.— Five Forks 385-398 

XLVIII. — Sailor's Creek 399-407 

XLIX. — The Blue and the Gray 408-422 

Appendix . ...... 425-429 

Index ........ 431-439 



INTRODUCTION. 



The distinguished subject of these memoirs I first 
met as a cadet at West Point in the heyday of his bright 
young manhood, in 1842. Upon graduating he was as- 
signed to the regiment to which I had been promoted, 
the Eighth United States Infantry, and Lieutenant Pickett 
served gallantly with us continuously until, for merito- 
rious service, he was promoted captain in 1856. Reserved 
with distinguished valor in all the battles of General 
Scott in Mexico, including the siege of Vera Cruz, and 
was always conspicuous for gallantry. He was the first to 
scale the parapets of Chapultepec on the 13th of Septem- 
ber, 1847, ^"^ '^^^s th^ brave American who unfurled our 
flag over the castle, as the enemy's troops retreated, firing 
at the splendid Pickett as he floated our victorious colors. 

In memory I can see him, of medium height, of grace- 
ful build, dark, glossy hair, worn almost to his shoulders in 
curly waves, of wondrous pulchritude and magnetic pres- 
ence, as he gallantly rode from me on that memorable 
3d day of July, 1863, saying in obedience to the impera- 
tive order to which I could only bow assent, "I will lead 
my division forward, General Longstreet." He was de- 
voted to his martial profession, tolerating no rival near 
the throne, except the beautiful, charming and talented 
lady, whose bright genius and loyal heart have penned 
these memoirs to her noble soldier husband, and who, 
since he left her, has fought, single-handed and alone, the 
battle of life. Of her and other ex-Confederate widows 
it can be said that they have, since the war between the 



XU INTRODUCTION. 

States, fought as fierce battles as ever their warrior hus- 
bands waged, for in the silent passages of the heart many 
severer battles are waged than were ever fought at Get- 
tysburg. 

George E. Pickett's greatest battle was really at Five 
Forks, April i, 1865, where his plans and operations were 
masterful and skilful, and if they had been executed as 
he designed them, there might have been no Appomat- 
tox, and despite the disparity of overwhelming numbers, 
a brilliant victory would have been his, if reinforcements 
which he had every reason to expect had opportunely 
reached him; but they were not ordered in season and 
did not join the hard-pressed Pickett until night, when 
his position had long since been attacked by vastly su- 
perior numbers with repeating rifles. 

He was of an open, frank and genial temperament, but 
he felt very keenly the distressing calamities entailed 
upon his beloved Sunny South by the results of the war, 
yet with the characteristic fortitude of a soldier, he bowed 
with resignation to the inevitable, gracefully accepted the 
situation, recognized the duty of the unfortunate to ac- 
cept the results in no querulous spirit, and felt his obliga- 
tion to share its effects. 

No word of blame, or censure even, of his superior oflfi- 
cers ever escaped Pickett's lips, but he nevertheless felt 
profoundly the sacrifice of his gallant soldiers whom he 
so loved. At Five Forks he had a desperate but a fight- 
ing chance, and if any soldier could have snatched victory 
from defeat, it was the intrepid Pickett, and it was cruel 
to leave that brilliant and heroic leader and his Spartan 
band to the same hard straits they so nobly met at Gettys- 
burg. At Five Forks Pickett lost more men in thirty 
minutes than we lost, all told, in the recent Spanish- 
American war from bullets, wounds, sickness or any 



INTR OD UCTION. X U 1 

Other casualty, showing the unsurpassed bravery with 
which Pickett fought, and the tremendous odds and in- 
superable disadvantages under and against which this in- 
comparable soldier so bravely contended; but with George 
E. Pickett, whether fighting under the stars and stripes at 
Chapultepec, or under the stars and bars at Gettysburg, 
dzity was his polar star, and with him duty was above con- 
sequences, and, at a crisis, he would throw them over- 
board. Fiat Justitia, pereat mundus. 

"Green be the turf above thee, 
Friend of my better days! 
None knew thee but to love thee, 
Nor named thee but to praise. " 

James Longstreet. 

Gainesville, Georgia, 

October J2, 1808. 



PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE FALL OF RICHMOND. 

When some one applied to President Lincoln for a 
pass to go into Richmond, he gravely replied: 

" I don't know about that; I have given passes to about 
two hundred and fifty thousand men to go there during 
the last two years, and not one of them has got there 
yet." 

Some of those passes had been used and their bearers 
had arrived at last, having made the slowest time on rec- 
ord since the first camel bore the pioneer traveler over 
an Oriental desert. The queen city of the South had 
fallen. The story of the great nation which had hovered 
upon the horizon of our visions had been written out to 
its last sorrowful word. 

On the morning of Sunday, April 2, in the holy calm 
of St. Paul's Church, we had assembled to ask the 
great Father of heaven and earth to guard our loved 
ones and give victory to the cause so dear to us. Sud- 
denly the glorious sunlight was dimmed by the heavy 
cloud of disappointment, and the peace of God was 
broken by the deep-voiced bells tolling the death-knell of 
our hopes. 

There was mad haste to flee from the doomed city. 
President Davis and his Cabinet officers were in the 



2 PICKETT AMD HIS MEN. 

church, and to them the news first came. They hurried 
to the State-house to secure the Confederate archives and 
retreat with them to some place of safety. 

Fear and dread fell over us all. We were cut off from 
our friends and communication with them was impossible. 
Our soldiers might have fallen into the hands of the 
enemy — we knew not. They might have poured out their 
life-blood on the battle-field — we knew not. In our help- 
less, deserted condition, all the world seemed to have 
been struck with sudden darkness. 

The records having been secured, an order was issued 
to General Ewell to destroy the public buildings. The 
one thing which could intensify the horrors of our posi- 
tion — fire — was added to our misfortunes. General J. C. 
Breckenridge, our Secretary of War, with a wider hu- 
manity and a deeper sense of the rights of his people, 
tried in vain to have this order countermanded, knowing 
that its execution could in no way injure or impede the 
victorious army, while it would result in the ruin of many 
of our own people. The order was carried out with even 
a greater scope than was intended. 

The Shockoe warehouse was the first fired, it being re- 
garded as a public building because it contained certain 
stores belonging to France and England. A breeze 
springing up suddenly from the south fanned the slowly 
flickering flames into a blaze and they mounted upward 
until they enwrapped the whole great building. On the 
wings of the south wind they were carried to the next 
building, and the next, until when the noon hour struck 
0,11 the city between Seventh and Fifteenth streets and 
Main street and the river was a heap of ashes. 

Still the flames raged on. They leaped from house 
to house in mad revel. They stretched out great burning 
arms on all sides and embraced in deadly clasp the 



THE FALL OF RICHMOND. 3 

stately mansions which had stood in lofty grandeur from 
the olden days of colonial pride. Soon they became tow- 
ering masses of fire, fluttering immense banners of flame 
wildly against the wind, and fell, sending up myriads of 
fiery points into the air, sparkling like blazing stars 
against the dark curtain that shut out the sky. 

A stormy sea of smoke, wave upon wave, surged over 
the town — here a billow of blackness that seemed of suf- 
focating density — there a brilliant cloud, shot through and 
through with arrows of crimson fire. The cruel wind 
swept on, and the magnificent ocean of smoke and flame 
rolled before it in surges of destruction over the once 
fair and beautiful city of Richmond. 

The terrified cries of women and children arose in 
agony above the roaring of the flames, the crashing of 
falling buildings, and the trampling of countless feet. 

Piles of furniture and wares lay in the streets, as if the 
city had struck one great moving-day, when every- 
thing was taken into the highways, and left there to be 
trampled to pieces or buried in the mud. 

The government stores were thrown out to be de- 
stroyed, and a mob gathered around to catch the liquors 
as they ran in fiery rivers down the streets. Very soon 
was drunkenness added to the confusion and uproar 
which reigned over all. The officers of the law, terror- 
stricken before the reckless crowd, fled for their lives. 
The firemen dared not make any effort to subdue the 
flames, fearing an attack from the soldiers who had exe- 
cuted the order to burn the buildings. 

Through the night the fire raged, the sea of darkness 
rolled over the town, and crowds of men, women and chil- 
dren went about the streets laden with what plunder they 
could rescue from the flames. The drunken rabble shat- 
tered the plate-glass windows of the stores and wrecked 



4 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

everything upon which they could seize. The populace 
had become a frenzied mob, and the kingdom of Satan 
seemed to have been transferred to the streets of Rich- 
mond. 

About nine o'clock Monday morning a series of terrific 
explosions startled even ears which would seem to have 
endured every possible variety of painful sounds. Every 
window in our home was shattered, and the old plate-glass 
mirrors built into the walls were broken. It seemed as if 
we were called upon to undergo a bombardment, in addi- 
tion to all our other misfortunes, but it was soon ascer- 
tained that the explosions were from the government 
arsenal and laboratory, which had now been caught by 
the flames. Fort Darling and the rams were blown up. 

Every bank was destroyed, the flour-mills had caught 
fire, the War Department was in ruins, the offices of the 
E?igtdrer and Dispatch had been reduced to ashes, the 
county court-house, the American Hotel, and most of the 
finest stores of the city were ruined. The Presbyterian 
church had escaped. The flames seemed instinctively to 
have avoided Libby Prison, as if not even fire could add 
to the horrors of that gloomy place. 

While the flames were raging in full force the colored 
troops of General Weitzel, who had been stationed on the 
north side of the James, a few miles from Richmond, en- 
tered the city. As I saw th^ir black faces shining through 
the gloom of the smoke-environed town, I could not help 
thinking that they added the one feature needed, if any 
there were, to complete the demoniacal character of the 
scene. They were the first colored troops I had ever seen, 
and the weird effect produced by their black faces in that in- 
fernal environment was indelibly impressed upon my mind. 

General Weitzel sent Major A. H. Stevens, of the 
Fourth Massachusetts Cavalry, and Major E. E. Graves, 



THE FALL OF RICHMOND. 5 

of his staff, at the head of a hundred mounted men, to 
reconnoiter the Richmond roads and works. At the forti- 
fications beyond the junction of the Osborne turnpike 
and New Market road they were met by a flag of truce 
waved from a dilapidated old-fashioned carriage drawn 
by a pair of skeleton-like horses. The truce party con- 
sisted of the Mayor of Richmond, Colonel Mayo; 
Judge Meredith, of the Supreme Court; Judge Lyons, a 
representative man of Virginia, and at one time minister 
to England; and a fourth, whom I do not now recall. 

The carriage was probably in the early part of the 
century what might have been called, if the modern clas- 
sic style of phraseology had prevailed at that time, a 
"tony rig." At the period of which I write, it had made 
so many journeys over the famous Virginia roads that it 
had become a sepulchral wreck of its former self. 

There may have been a time when the reminiscences of 
animals that dragged out from the burning capital the 
ruins of the stately chariot were a span of gay and gal- 
lant steeds, arching their necks in graceful pride, champing 
their bits in scorn of the idea that harness made by man 
could trammel their lofty spirits, pawing the earth in dis- 
dain of its commonplace coarseness. If so, the lapse of 
years and an extended term of Confederate fare had re- 
duced those noble coursers to shambling memories. 

This dignified body, thus borne in impressive man- 
ner along the highway, had in custody a piece of — 
parchment, shall I say? Yes, if I wish to preserve the 
historic dignities, after the manner of my good friend, 
Judge Lyons. Should I yield to the mandates of historic 
truth, I should be compelled to state that it was a frag- 
ment of — wall-paper. 

What of it? The chariot of state might be the wreck 
of former grandeur, the horses might be the dimmest of 



6 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

recollections, the official parchment might be but a torn 
bit of wall-paper, turned wrong side out for convenience 
in writing. Was not Judge Lyons still Judge Lyons — a 
member of Old Dominion aristocracy — a former minister 
to the court of St. James? With all the cold and stately 
formality with which he might once have presented to 
the Queen of England a representative of I'le wealth and 
culture of his nation, he "had the honor" to introduce 
his companions to Major Stevens, and if there was any 
lack of dignity in the manner in which the aforesaid slip 
of wall-paper was conveyed to that probably astonished 
officer, it was from no failure of duty on the part of him 
upon whom yet rested some shadow of the royal glory 
which pervaded the court of St. James. Upon the un- 
adorned side of the wall-paper were inscribed these words: 

It is proper to formally surrender to the Federal authorities the 
city of Richmond, hitherto capital of the Confederate States of America, 
and the defenses protecting it up to this time. 

Major Stevens courteously accepted the surrender on 
behalf of his commanding general, to whom the docu- 
ment was transmitted, and proceeded to reduce the newly 
acquired property to possession by valiantly fighting the 
flames which were sturdily disputing ownership with him. 

Having utilized to good effect what little remnant of 
the fire department he could find, he ordered the stars 
and stripes to be raised over the Capitol. Two soldiers 
of the Fourth Massachusetts Cavalry, one from Company 
E and one from Company H, mounted to the summit of 
the Capitol and in a few moments, for the first time in 
more than four years, the national flag fluttered unmo- 
lested in the breezes of the South. The stars of the 
Union were saluted, while our "warrior's banner took its 
flight to meet the warrior's soul." 



THE FALL OF RICHMOND. 7 

That flag which almost a century before had risen 
from the clouds of war, like a star gleaming out through 
the darkness of a stormy night, with its design accredited 
to both Washington and John Adams, was raised over 
Virginia by Massachusetts, in place of the one whose 
kinship and likeness to the old banner had never been 
entirely destroyed. 

In Mafch, 1861, the Confederate Congress adopted 
the stars and bars — three horizontal bars of equal width, 
the middle one white, the others red, with a blue union 
of nine stars in a circle. This was so like the national 
flag as to cause confusion. In 1863 this flag was replaced 
by a banner with a white field, having the battle-flag (a 
red field charged with a blue saltier on which were 
thirteen stars) for a union. It was feared that this might 
be mistaken for a flag of truce, and was changed by cov- 
ering the outer half of the field with a vertical red bar. 
This was finally adopted as the flag of the Confederate 
States of America. 

Richmond will testify that the soldiers of Massachu- 
setts were worthy of the honor of first raising the United 
States flag over the Capitol of the Confederacy, and will 
also bear witness to the unvarying courtesy of Major 
Stevens, and the fidelity with which he kept his trust. 

It has seemed appropriate that I should begin my 
story with the burning city, for fire has followed me all 
my life. My story, I say? Semmes has said: "To 
write history we must be a part of that history." My 
story has been so closely allied with that of Pickett 
and his division that it does not seem quite an in- 
trusive interpolation for me to appear in the record of 
that warrior band. How could I tell the story, and 
the way in which that story was written, and not be a 
part of it? 



8 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Kindled by the vandal hand of General Butler, in re- 
taliation for the telegram which General Grant sent to 
President Lincoln — "Pickett has bottled up Butler at 
Bermuda Hundred" — fire destroyed our beautiful colo- 
nial home on the James. The good old hero of Ap- 
pomattox was my husband's very dear friend, and he 
would have been more economical with his telegrams 
had he known that his friend must pay so heavy a toll 
upon them. The United States government was also 
charged enormously heavy rates upon that message, for 
the ancestral home stood very far away from the line of 
war, and Butler, coming from City Point at an expense 
of many millions, made a draft on the war fund out of all 
proportion to any beneficent result accomplished by the 
gratification of his personal spite. 

In the burning of Richmond all my bridal presents 
and my household furniture were consumed. 

When the General was made president of Southern 
agencies for the Washington Life Insurance Company, 
we shut up our little cottage home on Turkey Island and 
took apartments at the Spotswood Hotel in Richmond. 
The following Christmas we went to spend the sacred 
season with our dear grandmother — her last Christmas- 
tide on earth. On our return the next night, the General 
ordered the driver to take us to the Spotswood. " Lawd! 
Lawd! Marse Gawge, 'deed an' 'deed, suh, ef I wuz to do 
dat I'd be 'bleeged to dribe you smack down ter destruck- 
shunment, fer 'fo' de Lawd, suh, de po' ole Spotserd is 
dun an' bu'nt up smack down ter de groun' las' night; 
yas, suh, dat she did." The occupants of that part of the 
building where our rooms were located were burned to 
death. Though fire had again robbed us of our effects, 
through a merciful Providence our lives had been spared. 

To my home in Washington late one night came a 



THE FALL OF RICHMOND. Q 

poor man who asked for help. He said that he was one 
of "Pickett's men" — that he had come to the end of his 
rope and had nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep. I 
went back to my son's room to get some money, and 
thought I smelled something burning. Opening the 
door leading down into the basement just beneath my 
son's room, a puff of smoke struck me in the face. Hur- 
rying back to the porch where I had left the man stand- 
ing, I sent him to the nearest drug-store to give the 
alarm. The engines came in time, and for once, by what 
seemed a mere accident, I escaped the fate which has fol- 
lowed me with such unwavering persistence. 

A flame of gas, lit by a careless servant, destroyed 
the oil portrait of the General, given me by " Pickett's 
men." It hung upon my wall, guarded on one side by the 
beautiful Confederate flag presented to me by the " Phila- 
delphia Brigade" and on the other by a handsome United 
States flag, a treasured gift from my loved Southland. 
The two banners for which so much blood and treas- 
ure had been sacrificed were fastened together by a scarf 
of Confederate gray and Union blue, the design of a deaf 
and dumb boy, a son of one of Pickett's men, and met 
above the pictured head of the soldier who had fought 
so bravely under them both. When the flames were ex- 
tinguished, the portrait was a charred ruin, and flags and 
scarf were a heap of ashes on the floor. 

Fire destroyed the first manuscript of the story of 
Pickett and his men, in the preparation of which thirteen 
years of labor had been spent. Let me hope that the 
only fire» which will attach to my present effort to record 
the history of those gallant soldiers is the long-ago-burnt- 
out flames which surged over the unfortunate capital of 
the Confederacy. 



CHAPTER II. 

ANXIETY, SUSPENSE, LONELINESS. 

The fire revealed many things which I would like 
never to have seen and, having seen, would fain forget. 

One of the most revolting sights was the amount of 
provisions and shoes and clothing which had been accu- 
mulated by the speculators who hovered like vultures 
over the scene of death and desolation. Taking advan- 
tage of their possession of money and their lack of both 
patriotism and humanity, they had, by an early corner in 
the market and by successful blockade-running, bought 
up all the available supplies with an eye to future gain, 
while our soldiers and women and children were abso- 
lutely in rags and barefoot and starving. 

Not even war, with its horrors and helplessness, can 
divert such harpies from their accustomed methods of 
accumulating wealth at the expense of those of their fel- 
low men who have spent their lives in less self-seeking 
ways. 

All my own little store was a small quantity of flour 
and meal and a bag of beans; no salt even to season them; 
and I an officer's wife. How much worse it must have 
been for those less favored than I. 

The General had left me in Richmond when he went 
away to fight the battle of Five Forks, telling me to stay 
until he returned or sent for me. " I shall surely comcf" 
he said. So, like Casablanca, I waited, and not even "the 
flames that lit the battle's wreck " should frighten me 
away. 



ANXIETY, SUSPENSE, LONELINESS. ^^ 

Though my husband's friend, General Breckenridge, 
our Secretary of War, had, in his thoughtfulness, offered 
me the opportunity of leaving our dear old Confederate 
capital with him and his family, I remembered that Gen- 
eral Pickett had left me here, and obediently determined 
to remain until he should come or send for me. I grate- 
fully thanked General Breckenridge for his kindness, but 
said: 

" I am like the boy who stood on the burning deck. I 
can not go until the one voice calls me." 

So my husband's good friend was regretfully forced to 
leave me. 

The days were made up of fears and anguish unspeak- 
able. The clock struck only midnight hours for me. 

Rumors of the death of the General were credited 
(I saw by the look in everybody's face), though no word 
was said, and I would not ask a question nor let anybody 
speak to me of him. The last letter I had received from 
him had been dated the 30th of March, at Hatcher's 
Run, the extreme right of the Confederate line at that 
time. Most of the letter was written in Chinook. This 
is a quotation from it: 

Heavy rains; roads and streams almost impassable. Wliile Gen- 
eral Lee was holding a conference with his chiefs this morning a mes- 
sage came from General Fitz Lee, stating that through a prisoner he had 
learned that the Federal cavalry, fifteen thousand strong, supported by 
heavy infantry, were at or near Dinwiddle Court-House. This decided 
the General's plans, and he has placed General Fitz Lee in command 
of the whole cavalry, Rosser's, W. H. F. Lee's, and his own, with 
orders to march upon Five Forks. I am to support with my small 
force of artillery and infantry this movement and take command 
of the whole force. 

The letter was in full faith of a short separation and 
that all would be well, that he would surely return, and 



12 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

implored me not to listen to or credit any rumors to the 
contrary, and urged me in an added line to be brave and 
of good cheer — to keep up a " skookum tum-tum." This 
letter was brought to me by Jaccheri, a daring, fearless 
Italian in my husband's employ as a headquarters post- 
master. He was sagacious and loyal, perfectly devoted 
to my husband and his cause, and was trusted with letters 
of the strictest confidence and importance all through 
the war. 

As I said before, our people were on the verge of star- 
vation. The army had been living on rations of corn and 
beans, with *' seasonings " of meat, for weeks before we left 
camp. A rat even had been considered a bojine bouche 
for months past. The game had been trapped and killed 
throughout the whole country, and my breakfast that 
morning had consisted of a few beans cooked in water; 
no salt; for salt had been a luxury for a long time in the 
Confederacy. All the old smokehouses had been moved, 
that the earth might be dug up and boiled down to get 
the salt which in the many years it had absorbed. 

John Theophelas, my dear little brother, nine years 
old, was a great comfort to me in these days of trial. He 
had just brought up my beans and was lovingly coaxing 
me to eat them when Jaccheri came. A plate wis filled 
for Jaccheri, and after he had finished his meager break- 
fast, seasoned with his adventures in getting to me, swim- 
ming the river at one place with his clothes tied up in a 
bundle on his head, etc., he said he must go. I added a 
few lines to my diary of all my acts, which I always kept 
for the General, and gave it to our faithful letter-carrier 
to take back to him. 

"Ina da days to come," said Jaccheri, in his soft Ital- 
ian voice, "ina all landa, no matter, mucha people — 
mucha gloly, nadia money, no matter, you find Jaccheri 



ANXIETY, SUSPENSE, LONELINESS. 1 3 

here — and here — " first putting his hand over his heart 
and then drawing from his boot and gracefully brandish- 
ing a shining blade. "Gooda-by." 

At the door he turned back and, untying his cravat, 
wiggled out five pieces of money, three gold dollars and 
two ninepences. He walked over on tiptoe to where our 
baby was sleeping, crossed himself, and, kneeling by the 
cradle, slipped into baby's little closed hand two of the 
gold dollars and around his neck a much worn and soiled 
scapula. 

" Da mon — Confed — noa mucha good, noa now much 
accountable — youa mighta want some; want her vely bad 
before you nota get her. Gooda-by, some moa." 

Dear, faithful old Jaccheri, — he would take no refusal, 
so I let baby keep the money and used it to buy milk for 
him, for I had not a penny in the world. 

I was reading aloud, lovingly and reverently, the torn 
words on the ragged red-flannel scapula which Jaccheri 
had given to baby: " Cease, the heart of Jesus is with 
me," when baby opened his sweet eyes and crowed 
over the little fortune which had come to him in his 
dreams, and just then my little brother, who had gone 
down-stairs with Jaccheri, came rushing back, his eyes 
wide open, all excitement, exclaiming: 

"Sister, sister! There's a Yankee down-stairs! Come 
to see you, but don't you go; hide, hide, sister! I'll stand 
by the door, and he daresen't pass by me. Quick, sister, 
hide! He said he was one of brother George's friends, 
but don't you believe him, sister! He has killed brother 
George, and now he wants to kill you! " 

"Oh, no, no, my child," I said reassuringly, trying to 
soothe and calm him. " No, no; don't be such a little cow- 
ard, dear. If he is one of your brother George's friends 
he is mine, too, and he would do me no hurt. I am not 



14 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

in the least afraid, and I will go down right away and see 
him." 

" You are not afraid of anything, sister, and. you will 
get killed yet, as sure as you are born, and brother George 
told me to take care of you. What will he say when he 
comes back and finds you dead and gone and nobody to 
bury you? 'Course I'll nurse the poor baby for you if 
you will go, but, sister, please marm, don't go. I shall 
be scared to death till you come back." 

"That's a sweet boy; take care of the baby," I said, 
and, kissing them both, closed the door behind me. 

As I entered the parlor a tall, thin gentleman with the 
sweetest of smiles and the kindest of voices, dressed in 
the uniform of a United States surgeon, arose and said 
as he bowed, holding his hat against his breast, thus 
avoiding offering me his hand: 

"My name is George Suckley, madam. I am one of 
George Pickett's friends, although, as soldiers, we have 
been enemies in the field for more than three years. 
That, however, does not interfere with us when we are 
not on duty. I have heard that you Southern women 
were very bitter, and I did not know how you, his wife — 
you are Pickett's wife, are you not, madam? — would take 
a visit from me, but I came, nevertheless. Knowing 
Pickett as well as I do, I know he would appreciate my 
motive in coming." 

"Your name is a very familiar one, Dr. Suckley," I 
said, "I have often heard the General speak of you, 
and remember many stories of your adventures — your 
love for bugs and beetles — for all natural history, in fact." 
I wished him to know that I remembered him and had 
not mistaken him for another, and also that I had reason 
to wonder at seeing him in his present position. "He 
often spoke of your having been with him at Fort Bel- 



ANXIETY, SUSPENSE, LONELINESS. 1 5 

lingham Bay, and knowing how you felt when he left the 
old army, he has often wondered at your remaining, and 
going to the front." 

"I am a surgeon in Grant's army," said Dr. Suckley, 
proudly, ignoring and, by his manner, almost resenting 
my reference to his former sympathy with the South. 
" I love Pickett, and came, as he would have come had 
our positions been reversed, to see his wife and offer her 
my services." 

I thanked this kind-hearted gentleman and distin- 
guished officer, but was too bitter to accept the smallest 
courtesy at his hands, even in my husband's name, and 
though offered for love's sake — so bitter that suffering 
was preferable to such obligation. He bowed and was 
going, when I said: 

"Doctor, is there any news of the army — ours, I 
■mean? " 

"The war is over, madam. You have my address, if 
you should change your mind and will show me how I 
can serve you." 

He bowed and left. He, too, had heard that the Gen- 
eral had been killed, and believed it, and I hated him 
worse because of his belief. 

On the evening of the 3d of April I was walking the 
floor. Baby was asleep, and my little brother was walk- 
ing behind me, when I heard: 

"Grand victory at Five Forks! Pickett killed, and 
his whole division captured!" 

It seemed very strange to me that in the streets of 
Richmond, my dear old home, the capital of the Confed- 
eracy, the death of Pickett and the capture of his whole 
division should be heralded as a "grand victory." How 
great a change had come in so short a time! Even the 
newsboys had gone over to the enemy. 



1 6 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

" 'Tisn't so, sister; 'tisn't so! Don't you believe him!" 
said my little brother. "Hush, sir; hush!" he excitedly 
called out of the window to the newsboy. " Hush this 
minute, hallooing your big stories out loud and scaring 
everybody to death. I'd like to stick those five forks 
through your old black gizzard, for you haven't got any 
heart, I know. Ain't you ashamed of yourself, you good- 
for-nothing old scalawag, you! There ain't a word of 
truth in brother George being killed, and you know it, 
you old thing! I'll go down and mash his mouth for him 
and kick him to death for scaring you so, my poor sister — 
poor sister! Yes, I'd just like to kill that boy, sister, 
'deed I would; but it isn't so, my sister. You trust in 
the Lord. I know brother George is not killed, for he 
said he wouldn't get killed." 

" No, it is not so. You are right, my darling. Your 
brother George is not killed," I said. "Yes, he will come 
back! — he wi// come back! He said he would, and he 
will." 

I thanked God then, and I thank God now, for the 
sweet comfort of that precious little brother, John T. 
Corbell — my little confidant and friend — and for his loy- 
alty and love in all the succeeding years. 

Oh, the sleepless nights that followed each other after 
that in monotonous succession! 



CHAPTER III. 
"whoa, lucv." 

One morning I had mechanically dressed baby George 
and had taken him to the window to hear the spring 
sounds and breathe the spring balm and catch the sun- 
shine's dripping gold wreathing the top of the quivering 
blossoms of the magnolia- and tulip-trees. 

It was the time when the orchestra of the year is in 
perfect accord, when all the world is vocal — when the 
birds sing of love, the buds and blossoms of joy, the 
grains and grasses of hope and faith, and when each 
rustle of wind makes a chime of vital resonance. 

Through the quiver and curl of leaves and perfume of 
flowers and soft undertone of dawn-winds came the words, 
"Whoa, Lucy; whoa, little girl!" 

Oh, those tones, those words, that voice thrilled my 
heart so that I wonder it did not burst from very glad- 
ness! Such joy, such gratitude as flooded my soul only 
the Giver of all good can know! All the privation and 
starvation and blood-stains of the past four years, and the 
woes and trials, griefs and fears, of those last dreadful 
days were swept away by those blessed, precious words, 
"Whoa, Lucy!" spoken in my husband's tender tones. 

How I got down the stairs I do not know; I do not 
remember. With baby in my arms, we were both of us 
in my husband's almost before Lucy had been given into 
the hands of the hostler. I do not know how to describe 
the peace, the bliss of that moment — it is too deep and 
too sacred to be translated into words. I think that it 

2 17 



1 8 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

is akin to the feeling that will come to me in the here- 
after, when I have gone through all these dark days of 
privation and of starvation of heart and soul here, victo- 
rious, and at last am safe within the golden gates and, 
waiting and listening, shall hear again the voice that said, 
"Whoa, Lucy!" here, bidding me welcome there. 

All through the war Lucy had brought the General 
to me. Spirited and beautiful, she had many times car- 
ried him twenty miles in an evening to see me, often 
through dangers greater than battle. Lucy was not the 
General's war-horse. She was the little thoroughbred 
chestnut mare he always rode when he came to see me. 
His "peace-saddle," his "love-pony," he called her, and 
Bob, the General's valet, referring to her would say: 
" Dat hoss Lucy she Marse George's co'tin'-filly; an' you 
daresent projick wid dat hoss needer, 'kaze Marse George 
iz mos' ez 'especkful to her ez ef she wuz sho'-'nuff real 
folks." The horse the General used in battle he called 
" Old Black," a steady, sure-footed, strong, fearless animal 
that, while obedient to the General's slightest touch or 
command, allowed no one else, on peril of death, to 
mount her. 

My father's home was in Chuckatuck, Nansemond 
County, Virginia, about thirty miles from Norfolk, diago- 
nally opposite Newport News. After the evacuation of 
Norfolk by the Confederate forces all that part of the 
country was neutral ground, being occupied one day by 
Federal troops, and another by the Confederates. Lying 
thus between the two lines, a constant warfare was car- 
ried on by the scouts of both armies. 

I had not been to my father's home since I was mar- 
ried, and was not prepared for the changes war had made. 
Our own home on the James had been burned to ashes at 
the command of Butler, and for awhile we had nowhere 



"WHOA, LUCY." 19 

to go but to my father's. We had nothing. We both 
knew, however, that a loving welcome awaited us there 
in my father's home.' We knew that he had an abundance 
to eat. Nature's great larder, the Chuckatuck, ran but a 
stone's throw from the back door, supplying with but lit- 
tle labor terrapin, fish, oysters and crabs in abundance, and 
bait was plentiful. It was there, then, to my childhood's 
home, that the General decided we should go. But, how? 
There was no way of getting there, no steamers running, 
and the railroad was derailed for miles around. Then 
again, there was no money; my husband had not a penny 
in the world, and our friends were no better off. 

On the afternoon of the second day after the General's 
return, while we were planning about going, my little 
brother Johnny came running in, saying: 

"Sister, I saw riding by the door just now that same 
Yankee who came here to see you the other day, and who 
said he was brother George's friend. He knew me, and 
asked how you were, and how's the baby," 

*' Oh, I forgot; I must tell you all about it," I said, 
and I then told the General of the visitor I had had be- 
fore he came back. When I had told him all, his gray 
eyes filled with tears, and looking down he said, tenderly: 

"Dear old Suckley! God bless him! That's just 
like him. Where is his card? Find it for me, please, 
little one. Dear old Suckley — dear old fellow — so 
true!" he said, looking at the card. 

I stooped down and took the General's dear head in 
both my hands, and raising it up looked down search- 
ingly into his earnest, loving eyes to see how he could 
possibly speak so kindly and so affectionately of a 
Yankee. 

" So you have that same kind of ' off-duty ' feeling, too, 
I see, that this Yankee doctor spoke of having," I said 



20 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

with surprise, and rather disrespectfully for me, too, I am 
afraid. 

" I must find the dear old fellow," the General said, 
graciously overlooking my smallness of spirit, and excus- 
ing himself and taking leave of baby and me, he went out 
at once. In a little while he came back, saying: 

" It is very fortunate for us, little one, that I went out 
when I did. Suckley goes down the river to-morrow to 
Norfolk in the surgeon-general's steamer, and he has 
kindly invited us to go with him, dear old big-hearted 
bug-catcher! Come, let us lose no time. Let us hurry 
and get our little traps together and be ready. We will 
not say anything about our plans to any one till to-morrow 
morning, when we can announce our intentions and say 
our good-bys simultaneously." 

Not only had this Yankee of^cer, in his "off-duty" 
feeling for the General, kindly volunteered to transport 
us to our home, but to carry our trunks and horses, in 
fact, all we had, which, alas! was very, very little. Most 
of our worldly possessions — all of our bridal presents, 
linen, library, pictures, silver, furniture, harp, piano, china, 
— everything except a few clothes, had been stored at Kent, 
Payne & Co.'s, and had been burned in the awful fire the 
night of the evacuation of Richmond. 

The General's staff had, one by one, come in during 
the day from the field and camp, and all breakfasted with 
us for the last time next morning in the old Pickett home 
at the corner of Sixth and Leigh streets. The military 
family had broken up at Appomattox after Lee's surren- 
der, and the dear old headquarters Confederate flag the 
General himself unstaffed, tore into strips and divided 
among them. Such a happy family they had been. 

The second social parting was sad, too, for they had 
taken me, "the child wife," into their lives twenty months 



"WHOA, LUCY." 21 

before, and they all loved me and called nne " sister." 
Their pride in each other and in their command, the perils 
that together they had endured, the varied experiences 
of good times and bad, had bound them together in links 
stronger than steel. 

Spite of the partings, the loss of our cause, our dis- 
appointment and poverty, there was to me a sweet, 
restful, peaceful feeling of thankfulness in my heart and 
gratitude to God that the war was over, that my husband 
had been spared and belonged now only to me, that we 
v/ere going home, and together, free from intrusion, could 
rest under the shade of our own trees. 



chaptp:r IV. 

GEORGE junior's FIRST GREENBACK. 

The next morning at ten o'clock Dr. Suckley called 
in his headquarters ambulance to take us to the steamer. 
Just at the close of breakfast we had announced our in- 
tention of going. There was to be a sudden breaking 
up and severing of old associations. The staff were all 
en route to their respective homes except the adjutant- 
general, Major Charles Pickett. He and Mrs. Dr. Bur- 
well, only brother and sister of my husband, were to 
remain with their families for a time in the old Pickett 
home. 

We said our sad good-by in the great fruit- and flower- 
garden at the rear of the house, and passing all alone 
through the large parlors and wide halls, crept quietly 
out and softly closed the door behind us. The only evi- 
dence of life in the dear old home as we looked back was 
Dr. Burwell's big dog which, having escaped from the 
back yard, howled mournfully within the gates. The 
blinds and window-shades had not been opened or raised 
since the Federal forces had occupied the city. 

As we boarded the steamer that morning I realized for 
the first time that our cause was lost. Never before in 
all the days of my dear married life but cheer after cheer 
had greeted us wherever we had gone — salute from sol- 
dier or sailor, whether on or off duty. This morning these 
honors were replaced by stares of surprise, of mingled 
curiosity and hate. Dr. Suckley recognized this feeling 
at once, and, with a quizzical smile at my caged-tigress 



GEORGE JUNIOR'S FIRST GREENBACK. 23 

expression of rage, put his arm in that of the General, and 
with a haughty glance at the men, walked boldly on board. 
I was shown into the surgeon-general's stateroom, in which 
there were many evidences of thoughtful care for my 
comfort. We were soon under way. 

The General and Dr. Suckley called each other by 
their given names and laughed and talked as cordially as 
if they had loved the same dear cause and fought for it side 
by side. At the table they drank to each other's health 
and to the friends and memories of olden times. A 
stranger could not have told which of the two soldiers 
had furled his banner. 

They chatted of Texas, and the great annexation strife 
which had changed the political complexion of the nation 
away back in what seemed to my youthful view a remote 
antiquity. They talked of Mexico, and the General re- 
called reminiscences of the battles in which he had 
fought in that wonderful tropical country. They dis- 
cussed the wild, free, fresh, novel life of the far-off 
Pacific coast, the wealth of the gold-mines of California, 
its luscious and abundant fruits, and the friends they had 
known there. They talked of the great Northwest, that 
was like a mythologic region to me, of the Chinook In- 
dians, and of San Juan Island and the English officers 
who had occupied the island conjointly with the General. 
I found myself wondering if it had been a dream, and 
there had been no internecine strife. 

Just before reaching City Point, which is a few hours' 
distance from Richmond, Dr. Suckley came up to me and 
said: 

"We are going to stop for General Ingalls, who 
v^ishes to come on board to pay his respects to you and 
George. I don't suppose there is any one in the wide 
world Rufus Ingalls loves more than he does your hus- 



24 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

band, and I hope, madam, you will meet him with more 
cordiality than you did another of your husband's friends. 
At least, for the sake of their lifelong friendship, you 
will not hurt him." 

He turned for sympathy to my husband, who looked 
acquiescingly at him and beseechingly at me. Presently 
the General drew me to one side and whispered: 

" Suckley voiced my wishes, my little wife, and I want 
you to meet my old friend just as cordially as you can. 
Put your little hand in his and forget everything except 
that he is one of your husband's oldest and dearest 
friends." 

I promised my husband with all my heart to do what 
he asked, and I really meant to do it. I loved to do every- 
thing he bade me. I liked him to make things hard for me 
sometimes, that I might show him how sincere and loving 
my obedience was. But when General Ingalls came on 
board, was given a salute and received, as became his 
rank, with the honors the absence of which I had marked 
when my own General came, I slipped my hand out of 
my husband's and ran back to my stateroom as fast as 
I could. 

There I burst out crying and shook our baby, waking 
him, and told him how papa had been treated — that poor 
papa had not had any honors paid him at all, and that 
a dreadful old bad Yankee general had come on board 
and taken them all, and that when he grew up and was a 
big man he must fight and fight and fight, and never sur- 
render, and never forgive the Yankees; no, not even if his 
poor, dethroned papa asked him to do so. I told him 
how his papa had asked me to shake hands with this 
Yankee general, because he was his friend, and that I was 
going to do it because papa wanted me to; that I tried and 
could not and that he never must, either — never, never. 



GEORGE JUNIOR'S FIRST GREENBACK. 2$ 

I did not know there was a witness to all my bitter- 
ness till I heard a smothered chuckle and, looking up, 
saw my husband and his friend, General Rufus Ingalls, 
standing over me. With a twinkle in his eye, and in a 
voice full of suppressed laughter, General Ingalls said, as 
he patted me on the head: 

"I don't blame you one bit, little woman — not a 
damn bit. I should feel just as terrible about it as 
you do if I were in your place. It's all different with 
Pickett and me, you see. We don't mind. Why, do 
you know, child, we have slept under the same blanket, 
fought under the same flag, eaten out of the same mess- 
pan, dodged the same bullets, scalped the same Indians, 
made love to the same girls — aye, Pickett, it won't do, 
by Jove, to tell her all we have done together — no, no — 
come, shake hands. I am dreadful sorry we have had this 
terrible kick-up in the family, and all this row and blood- 
shed, but we are all Americans, damn it, anyhow, and your 
fellows have been mighty plucky to hold out as they have. 
Come, that's a good child; shake hands. May I kiss her, 
Pickett? No — damn it, I shan't ask you. There, there! 
Here is a basket of trash I had the orderly rake together. 
I don't know what it all is, but I told the man to do 
the best he could. Here, Mr. George junior — with your 
bright eyes and your won't-cry mouth — here is a green 
chip for a pair of red shoes." 

General Ingalls put into our baby's hands his first 
greenback, and it was the only money we had, too — every 
cent. Baby and I said good-by, and he and the Gen- 
eral went out on deck. While I was peeping into the 
basket "Mr. George junior" tore the note in two. I 
caught the pieces and stuck my bonnet-pin through them 
till I could paste them together. One of the officers 
brought me some glue, and I cut a hundred-dollar Con- 



26 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

federate note in two to mend it with. Poor Confederate 
money! — 

* Representing nothing in God's earth now, 
And naught in the waters below it; 
As the pledge of a nation that passed away, 

Keep it, dear friend, and show it. 
Show it to those who will lend an ear 

To a tale this trifle will tell — 
Of Liberty born of a patriot's dream, 
Of a storm-cradled nation that fell. 

Too poor to possess the precious ores. 

And too much of a stranger to borrow. 
We issued to-day our promise to pay, 

And hoped to redeem on the morrow. 
The days rolled on, and weeks became years. 

But our coffers were empty still; 
Coin was so scarce that the treasury quaked 

When a dollar should drop in the till. 

But the faith that was in us was strong, indeed, 

Though our poverty well we discerned; 
And this little check represents the pay 

That our suffering veterans earned. 
They knew it had hardly a value in gold. 

Yet as gold our soldiers received it; 
It gazed in our eyes with a promise to pay, 

And every true soldier believed«it. 

But our boys thought little of price or pay, 

Or of bills that were overdue — 
We knew if it brought us our bread to-day 

'Twas the best our poor country could do. 
Keep it! It tells all our history over, 

From the birth of our dream till its last; 
Modest, and born of the angel Hope, 

Like our visions of glory, it passed. 



* These verses v/cre written on the back of a Confederate note, and 
for a time were ascribed to John Esten Cooke, and to Colonel Wythe 
Mumford. They were afterwards attributed to Colonel Jonas. 



GEORGE JUNIOR'S FIRST GREENBACK. 2/ 

Baby's first greenback was put up to dry, and then I 
turned my attention to the big covered basket the sailor 
had brought in. What an Aladdin treat it was! Raisins 
— the first I had seen in years and years — coffee, real 
"sho'-'nuff" coffee — sugar, crushed sugar — how nice! 
(we had had nothing but sorghum-juice sugar and sweet- 
potato coffee for so long) — rice and prunes, Jamaica rum 
and candy — French brandy and sherry and port — oh, me! 
and figs — nothing ever had tasted so good as that first fig — 
and well — the Yankee general who gave them all to me — 
the tones of his voice made more peace than his words. 
Eating the figs, I repeated them over to baby, saying: 

"Never mind, baby, about hating this Yankee. He 
said papa and he had trailed after the same Indians and 
smoked their venison at the same camp-fire and had drunk 
from the same flask. He said you looked like your papa, 
and he said you were a beautiful boy. So you need not 
mind about hating just this one. He said geography and 
politics had forced your papa and him to take opposite 
courses and it took four years to settle for their hot-head- 
edness and ambitions. You must never be a politician, 
and — you may love this one Yankee a tiny bit, and may 
suck a piece of his beautiful candy." 

Dr. Suckley not only took us to Norfolk, which was 
the end of his route, but he took us up the Nansemond 
River, thirty miles, and up Chuckatuck Creek, to my fa- 
ther's wharf. No one was expecting us. They thought, 
of course, it was the "Yankees come again," and had 
all run off and hidden, except my father who came down 
to catch the boat-line and welcome the travelers, whoever 
they might be. Oh, the joyful welcome of my great big- 
hearted father! 

Soldiers and sailors, one and all, came and shook 
hands with us. Baby and my little brother, Johnny, had 



23 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

made friends of them all for us. Baby knew no differ- 
ence between those who wore the blue and those who 
wore the gray, and some of them had little ones at 
home. We said good-by, with many a regret, to our 
kind friend and benefactor, Dr. Suckley, and to the sail- 
ors and ofificers, and this time cheer after cheer went up 
for my noble hero husband, as the little steamer hauled 
in the lines and puffed away, and more names were 
added to the list of Yankees for baby not to hate. 



CHAPTER V. 

"SKOOKUM TUM-TUM." 

The General did not like to fight his battles over. 
He said that the memories they revived were too bitter 
to be cherished. The faces of the dead and dying sol- 
diers on the field of battle were never forgotten. The sor- 
row of widows and orphans shadowed all the glory for 
him. In the presence of memory he was silent. The 
deepest sorrow, like the deepest joy, is dumb. 

"We are both too worn and weary now for aught 
else but to rest and comfort each other," he said. "We 
will lock out of our lives everything but its joys. From 
adversity, defeat and mourning, shall spring calmness for 
the past, strength for the present, courage for the future. 
Now that, in obedience to the command of General Lee, 
I have finished and sent off the report of the last fight of 
the old division, the closing days of our dear lost cause, 
we will put up the pen for awhile, and lay aside our war 
thoughts. We will rest and plan for peace, and then 
after a time we will take up the pen again and write 
down our memories for our children and perhaps for the 
children of the old division. We will build us a nest 
over the ashes of our once grand old colonial home on 
the James, and plant a new grove in the place of the 
sturdy old oaks cut down." 

The General possessed the greatest capacity for hap- 
piness, and such dauntless courage and self-control that, 
to all appearances, he could as cheerfully and buoyantly 
steer his way over the angry, menacing, tumultuous surges 

29 



30 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

of life as over the waves that glide in tranquil smooth- 
ness and sparkle in the sunlight of a calm, clear sky. 

This sweet rest which we had planned for ourselves, 
however, was of but short duration. We had been at my 
father's home only a few days, when a private messenger 
brought letters of warning from some of the General's old 
army friends. Two officers high in authority, solicitous 
for his welfare, advised that, in the existing uncertain, in- 
cendiary, seditious condition of things, he should absent 
himself for a while, until calm reflection should take the 
place of wild impulse, and time bring healing on its 
wings, and make peace secure. 

Butler, who had not yet recovered from the "bottling- 
up" experience, had instigated a movement to indict the 
General for treason, and was making bitter speeches 
against him in Congress. The people everywhere, in- 
censed and furious over the assassination of their beloved, 
martyred President, cried aloud for vengeance and blood 
and the revival of the law of Moses. 

The nation had gone mad with grief and rage. The 
waves of passion rose mountain-high, and from the awful 
storm the angels of justice, mercy and peace took flight. 
All that was bad in the hearts of men arose to the sur- 
face; all that was good sank to the depths. The first per- 
son who could be seized upon was regarded as the proper 
victim to the national fury. The weakest and most de- 
fenseless was made the target of popular wrath, because 
rage could thereby most quickly spend itself in ven- 
geance. Mrs. Surratt was imprisoned, and the v/hole coun- 
try was in a state of frenzy and on the verge of revolution. 

The strictest secrecy was enjoined upon us. Only my 
father and mother were taken into our confidence. Lucy 
was bridled, saddled and brought to the door. I 
walked with my husband, he holding the bridle, to the 



' ' SKO OKUM TUM- TUM. " 3 1 

upper gate. It was ten o'clock; the moon was shining 
brightly, and all was quiet and still. 

The General's plan for me was that I should go next 
day to Norfolk, take the steamer to Baltimore, and visit 
his aunt, whose husband had been in the old army, and 
who had not left it to join the Southern Confederacy, 
though his sons had fought on that side, one of them hav- 
ing been detailed on duty at my husband's headquarters. 

"My aunt will welcome you," he said, "and you will 
remain with her until a telegram shall come to you, say- 
ing, '^dwards is better.'" (Edward was my husband's 
middle name.) 

That telegram would mean that he was safe and that 
I was to join him, starting on the next train. I was to 
telegraph to "Edwards" from Albany, on my way to 
him, sending the message to the point from which his 
telegram had been dated. If his telegram should say, 
"There is still danger of contagion," I was not to start, 
but remain with his aunt until another message came. 

" Cheer up, the shadows will scatter soon. Already 
bright visions and happy day-dreams flit through my 
brain and thrill my heart; so keep up a 'skookum tum- 
tum,' little one, and take care of yourself. Watch for 
the telegram, ' Edwards is better,' for it will surely come. 
Now, keep up your courage and have faith; for it will 
surely come. God bless you." 

I smiled up at him as he repeated the familiar old say- 
ing, "Keep up a 'skookum tum-tum' (a brave heart), 
little one." 

He had learned the phrase from an old Chinook war- 
rior on the Pacific coast, and in the darkest days of the 
ill-fated struggle, when hope died in the heart and the 
sun seemed to have left the sky forever, he would lift 
my face upward, look down upon it with his kind eyes, 



32 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

smile gently, and say in a cheerful voice, "Keep up a 
skookum tum-tum, dear one." 

I listened to the sound of the footsteps of the horse, 
(his "co'tin'-filly " — dear old Lucy) away in the dis- 
tance, long after he was out of sight. Then I remem- 
bered a trick of my childhood, which had been taught 
me by a half-Indian, half-negress, and, putting my ear to 
the ground, I listened for the steps until the last echo 
was lost. 

The night-wind sighed with me as I walked back, re- 
peating " Keep up a skookum tum-tum." My pathjvay lay 
parallel with the Chuckatuck Creek, a stone's throw to the 
left. The tide was high and still coming in. The surg- 
ing of its waves seemed to call out to me, "Skookum 
tum-tum! Skookum tum-tum!" I could not be all deso- 
late, when the most beautiful forces of nature, echoing 
his words, called to me, "Keep up a brave heart — brave 
heart!" 

My precious old father had waited to have us say 
good-by alone, and was now coming forward to meet me. 
Our baby awakened just as we got in. I confided to 
baby the secret of the telegram, and told him papa said it 
would surely come, and papa always said what was true. 

The stars were burning brightly in the midnight sky 
to light the traveler on his way as he went afar off. 
Could there be light on the pathway that led him from 
me? Had his face been turned southward, with his eyes 
fixed joyfully upon the loved home where he would be 
welcomed when his journey was over, what radiant glory 
would have flooded the way! 

Far up in the zenith I could see "our star" gleaming 
brilliantly, seeming to reach out fingers of light to touch 
me in loving caress. It was a pure white star, that sent 
down floods of silvery radiance. Near it was a red star, 



' ' SKO OKUM TUM- TUM. " 33 

gleaming and beautiful, but I did not love it. It seemed 
to glow with the baleful fires of war. My great loving, 
tender, white star was like a symbol of peace looking 
down with serenest compassion. 

" Our star," he had said, as we stood together only 
one little evening before — how long ago it seemed — and 
gazed upward to find what comfort we might in its soft 
radiance. "Wherever we may be, we will look aloft into 
the night sky, where it shines with steady light, and feel 
that our thoughts and hearts are together." 

I fell asleep, saying softly in my heart, " God's lights 
to guide him." 

There were no steamers and no railroads from my 
home to Norfolk, but my father secured a pungy — a lit- 
tle oyster-boat — and the following day we, baby and I, 
started off. My father's heart was almost broken at 
parting from me so soon again. I was going, he knew 
not where, but knowing that "what God hath joined to- 
gether, no man should put asunder," he could not say 
one word to keep me. 

A storm came up just after we had gotten out of 
Chuckatuck Creek, and we were delayed in arriving at 
Norfolk. We had hoped to be there some hours before 
the departure of the Baltimore steamer, but reached the 
wharf as the plank was about to be taken in, so that my 
father barely had time to say good-by to me and put me 
on board. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CARPET-BAG, BASKET AND BABY. 

Alone, except for baby George, for the first time in all 
my seventeen years! Perhaps no timid little waif thrown 
out upon the deep sea of life ever felt more utterly 
desolate. 

I stepped on board the Baltimore steamer and was 
piloted into the saloon by a porter whose look and man- 
ner showed that he was perfectly cognizant of my igno- 
rance and inexperience. In the midst of my loneliness 
and the consciousness of my awkwardness and my real 
sorrows, sympathy for myself revived my olden-time 
compassion for poor David Copperfield, whom Steerforth's 
servant had made to feel so "young and green." 

So little did I know of traveling and the modes and 
manners of travelers, that I sent for the captain of the 
steamer to buy my ticket and arrange for my stateroom 
and supper. I wondered a little, as I waited for him, 
wliat he would think of my childishness, and if he often 
had such helpless passengers, and if he had, what he did 
with them, and if life was not sometimes made a burden 
to him because of them. There was always an undercur- 
rent, though, of realization of my position, and of dread 
because of it. I had one comforting reflection, however 
— the captain could not take me for a conspirator. My 
innocence was too genuine and embarrassing to be mis- 
taken for assumed guilelessness. 

I had been told on leaving my home that the slightest 
imprudence or careless word from me might cause 

34 



CARPET-BAG, BASKET AND BABY. 35 

my arrest, and that, in any event, if it were known who 
I was, it was more than possible that I might be held 
as a hostage for my husband. After consideration it had 
been decided that I should travel, not under my own 
name, but under my maiden name. The more I studied 
the subject the more bewildered I became. How could 
I keep my precious secret? I determined to be very 
silent and guard my tongue closely and answer in mono- 
syllables that would discourage intimacies. I began to 
draw my face down and look serious and wise and assume 
an expression of profound abstraction. Then it occurred 
to me that this attitude would never do. In the few 
novels I had read, the people who had secrets were al- 
ways silent and mysterious. Their demeanor said more 
plainly than words could have expressed: 

" Behold, the modern Sphinx, whose riddle can never 
be read!" 

Every one would recognize immediately the fact that 
my mind was the repository of something dangerous. 

Then I thought I would cultivate a light and chatty 
style, more in accordance with my natural character. So 
I was soon, in my thought, in conversation with some im- 
aginary person on home scenes and pleasures, assuming 
an animation that ought to remove from the mind of the 
most suspicious person the fancy that I could possibly 
have anything to conceal. I found that my mental 
allusions to what the General said and did were quite too 
frequent and enthusiastic to be in accordance with my as- 
sumed character of an unknown little wife and mother, 
traveling for the innocent purpose of spending a few 
days with relations, expecting her obscure husband to 
come for her after awhile from a little farm that he was 
industriously tilling. If I could neither talk nor be silent, 
what could I do? 



36 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

While I wrestled with these perplexities my train of 
thought was interrupted by the ringing of a bell and a 
loud voice shouting: 

" Passengers will please walk into the custom-house 
office and show their passports!" 

The laws were so strict that no one could leave any 
city in the South without a passport from the military 
authorities stationed there. My grandmother had given 
me her "oath of allegiance," which everybody in those 
dread days immediately after the surrender of the army was 
compelled to take, in order to purchase medicine, food or 
clothing of any sort, or for the transaction of any kind of 
business whatsoever. It was a rare occurrence that a man 
was found who would take this iron-clad oath, for, no 
matter how great the exigencies might be, he was branded 
as a traitor if he yielded to them. Consequently, the 
women, who were most bitter, too, in their feelings, were 
obliged to make a sacrifice of their convictions and prin- 
ciples, and take this oath in order to alleviate or prevent 
the absolute suffering of their loved ones. Illness in the 
family and the urgent necessity for quinine and salt left 
my unselfish little grandmother no alternative, and hav- 
ing taken this oath herself she found in it a kind of 
safety. It had, at any rate, brought her relief, and she 
wanted that I should have it with me, as a sort of 
"mascot" or safeguard. 

With carpet-bag, basket and baby, I started into the 
custom-house office and explained to the officer in charge: 

" I am very sorry, sir, that I have no passport. The 
steamer was about to sail as I reached Norfolk. I came 
from a little village thirty miles beyond, where passports 
are not given. I have an oath of allegiance, if that will 
answer in its place." 

The officer, laughing, said: 



CARPET-BAG, BASKET AND BABY. 37 

" No; never mind. It is all right. Only register your 
name. I /emember you did come on board just as the 
whistle blew; but was there not another passenger who 
came on with you — a gentleman?" 

" Yes, sir," I said. " It was my precious father, and he 
went back home on the little sail-boat." 

There must have been something to excite suspicion 
in the way I wrote my name, or else in my m.anner. I 
boldly wrote out my given name, and then as I started to 
write my last name, I looked all around me, confused, 
and changed the letter "P" to "C," writing " Corbell." 
Then I began to erase " Corbell " and write " Phillips," the 
name in my oath of allegiance. While there was really 
nothing very false in what I did, I felt guilty and was 
frightened, for I had been brought up to be strictly truth- 
ful, and to keep faithfully even the word of promise. 

I had not been long in the saloon when baby became 
restless and fretful. I was impatiently awaiting the com- 
ing of the captain, whom I had sent for, when a man ap- 
peared. He had short, curly hair, deep, heavy eyebrows, 
eyes sunken and close together, as if they had to be 
focused by his big, hooked nose or they would not be 
able to see. He was chewing alternately one end of his 
crinkly moustache and one side of his thick, red lip, and 
was making a sucking noise with his tongue, as he said: 

"Madam, you sent for the captain of the boat, I be- 
lieve." 

"Yes, sir." 

"What do you wish?" 

" I want you to be kind enough to get my ticket and 
stateroom, please. My father had not time to see after 
me. He barely had time to put me on board." 

"Certainly; with pleasure. You stop in Baltimore 
long?" 



38 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

"I don't know," I said. 

"You have been there before, I suppose?" * 

"Oh, no; never. I have been nowhere outside of 
Virginia and North Carolina. Most of my traveling be- 
fore my marriage was in going to and from Lynchburg, 
where I was at school. 

" Lynchburg is a hilly city. It was founded by an 
Irish emigrant, John Lynch, whose brother, Colonel 
Charles Lynch, of Revolutionary fame, instituted the 
lynch-law. Colonel Lynch was a great Whig, and too 
impatient to wait for the superfluous ceremony of legally 
administering justice upon the lawless Tories. 

" Once I rode on horseback to the Peaks of Otter, 
which are among the highest mountains of the South. 
You can't imagine how glorious it was to be up there so 
far away from the earth. When I first looked down from 
their lofty heights the sky and the earth seemed to be 
touching, and presently the rain began to pour. I could 
see the glimmering, glittering drops, but could not hear 
them fall. I was above the clouds and the rain — up in 
the sunshine and stillness, the only audible sound a 
strange supernatural flapping. It was the hawks and 
buzzards flapping their wings. Suddenly the rain ceased, 
the haze vanished, and I saw below the rugged moun- 
tains and what seemed in the distance a vast ocean. 
It was the level country below. 

"The words of John Randolph echoed in my heart 
with this infinite mystery of nature. He with only a 
servant had spent the night on those mighty rocks, and 
in the morning as he was watching the glory of the sun- 
rise, having no one else to whom to express his thought, 
he pointed upward with his long, slender hand and 
charged his servant never from that time to believe any 
one who said there was no God. 



CARPET-BAG, BASKET AND BABY. 39 

'" No, sah, Marse John; no, sah,' said the awe-stricken 
servant. • I ain't a-gwine ter, sah, I neber had no notion 
er bedoutin' sich a stronagin fack ez dat w'at you jes' 
say, nohow, but I 'clar ter gracious now, Marse John, atter 
die, I ain't gwine ter let none er Marse Thomas Didy- 
muses' tempshus bedoutin' tricks cotch no holt 'pun dis 
nigger, fum dis day forward fereber no mo.' 

"Once, too, I " 

"You have relatives in Baltimore?" said the gentle- 
man, abruptly interrupting me; otherwise, feeling that 
geography and history were safe subjects, I should have 
rattled on till I had told him all I knew. 

" Yes, sir," said I. "I am going to visit them." 

"Where were you from this morning?" 

" I came from a little country village about thirty 
miles from Norfolk — Chuckatuck, a village in Nanse- 
mond County. It used to be the capital city of a tribe of 
Indians called the Nansemums." 

" I saw your father as he was leaving the steamer. I 
was attracted to him because he made an appeal to all 
Masons, asking of them — poor man — with his hands 
raised to God, their protection and care for his child and 
grandchild. He thus was making himself known to any 
of us, his brothers, who might be aboard, when he was lost 
sight of by the turn of the boat. So, you see, you can 
safely confide in me, and I will help you in any way I can." 

"Thank you," I said. "I know my dear, dear papa ?!s 
a Mason. I know he was anxious about me; but I have 
nothing to confide — nothing. I only want a stateroom 
and my tickets and some milk for the baby. I do not 
wish for any supper myself. I am so lonesome I could 
not eat. It is wicked to feel blue and down-hearted, 
with baby and all the kind friends to watch over me, as 
you say; and then, too, God is always near." 



40 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

"Yes, that is true. Did you lose your husband in the 
war?" 

"No, sir." 

"He was in the war, though, was he not?" 

"Yes, sir." 

A fear came into my heart that I was talking too 
much. I did not want him to know anything concerning 
my husband, whose rank I especially desired to keep se- 
cret. I encouraged myself with the reflection that the 
end justified the means, even though I might deviate 
slightly from the truth, and said: 

"You could not have heard of him, and he was not 
of sufficient rank to have made an impression upon you, 
even if you had." 

"Where is he now?" 

" In the country." 

"And you are leaving him?" 

" For a little while, only." 

Then he talked of how much the Southerners had lost, 
and how much they had to forgive; how easy it was to bear 
victory and how hard to bear defeat, and saj.d that if he had 
been born South he would have been a rebel, and that his 
sympathies even nov/ were with the Southern people. 

Then a sudden suspicion came to me, and I said: 

" I wish there had never been any rebels at all; no, not 
even the first rebel, George Washington; and, now, sir, 
olease, I do not want to talk about the war. I am very 
weary and sleepy, and would like to retire. If you please, 
sir, will you get me my stateroom and ticket? I am so 
tired — so very tired." 

Baby was lying asleep on my lap, hypnotized by the 
chandeliers. The man looked down on him for a mo- 
ment, and then said, "Of course, I v/ill get them for you," 
and was going, v/hen an ex-Confederate ofificer, one of my 



CARPE T-BA 6', BA SKE T AND BABY. 4 1 

husband's old comrades and friends, came up and, cor- 
dially reaching' out his hand, said: 

" How do you do, Mrs. Pickett? Where is the General? 
What are you doing here, and where are you going?" 

He himself was returnmg to his home in the far South, 
but had been called back to Baltimore on business. 

" Thank you, General B ," I said. " My husband has 

gone to farming. He has turned his sword into a plow- 
share, and 1 am going to visit his aunt, whom I have 
never seen. He is to come to us after a little while; 
could not leave conveniently just now. He is very well, I 
thank you." 

"I am so glad to have seen you," he said. "Will see 
you later on," and was hobblingaway on his crutches. He 
saw by my manner that he had said something to embar- 
rass me, something hurtful to me, and left with a pained 
look. He was dressed in his old Confederate gray. 
The brass buttons had all been cut off, in obedience to the 
order at the custom-house office. 

For several moments not a word was spoken. Then 
I looked up and said: 

" My tickets and stateroom, please." 

" I thought you said your name was Corbell," said he 
of the hooked nose, as he held my money shaking in his 
hand. "I thought you said your husband's rank was not 
sufficient to have made an impression; that in all proba- 
bility I had never heard of him." 

Oh, that smacking sound of jaw and tongue, and that 
beak of a nose, and those little black eyes which grew into 
Siamese twins as they glared at me like a snake! He did 
not move, but said, while an undefined fear of him made 
me tremble and grow cold: 

"Your name was Corbell, and your husband was in the 
country. He was an officer of low rank." 



42 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

He repeated this, more to himself than to me. 

"Did I say that?" I said, and, with a face all hon- 
esty and truth, I looked straight into those eyes, divided 
by that vulture feature, and told, without blushing, with- 
out a tremor in my voice, the first deliberate falsehood I 
had ever told: 

"Did I say so? Well, my mind has been unbalanced, 
my friends think, by the way the war has ended, and they 
are sending me from home to new scenes and new asso- 
ciations to divert me, with the hope of making me well 
and strong again. Corbell was my maiden name, but I do 
not know how I happened to say that my husband's rank 
was low, for I was so proud of it. I could not have been 
thinking. Won't you please be so good as to get my 
ticket? I am so tired I don't know what I am saying." 

He went away, and the stateroom keys were brought 
to me by a waitress. She unlocked the door for me. I 
went in, too frightened now to think of supper, too 
frightened to sleep, and wondering if, in my imprudence, 
I had hurt my husband and what would happen if I had. 

All night long the noise of the wheel was to me the 
ax of the executioner. All night long it rose and fell 
through seas, not of water, but of blood — the heart's 
blood of valiant men, of devoted women, of innocent 
little children. All night long it went up and down, 
dripping from the awful sea — dripping with my hus- 
band's blood, with my father's, with the blood of all the 
friends I had known and loved. Then it seemed as 
if all the world but me had been slain to make that dread 
sea, and I was doomed to move over it forever, with the 
sound of the crushing wheels grinding my heart to powder 
and never consuming me. Why had I, of the whole human 
race, been left alone to go always up and down in that 
horrible waste of blood? Near morning I fell asleep and 



CARPET-BAG, BASKET AND BABY. 43 

dreamed that it was I who had destroyed all that world of 
people whose life-blood surged around me with a mad- 
dening roar, and that I was destined to an eternity of 
remorse. 

When I awoke the boat had landed. I got up and 
dressed hurriedly. Starting to go out, I found that the 
door was locked on the outside. The chambermaid 
not answering my repeated call, I beckoned to a sailor 
passing the window and begged that he would tell 
the chambermaid that I was locked in and ask her 
to come and let me out. She came to the door and 
said: 

"You can not get out." 

"I do not understand," I said. "Are we not at Bal- 
timore?" 

An officer was with her, who answered: 

"Yes, but you can not get off, madam. You are to be 
detained upon the boat until the authorities come and 
either release or imprison you. You are supposed to be 
a suspicious character." 

On a slip of paper I wrote: 

"A Master Mason's wife and daughter in distress de- 
mands in their name that you will come to her." 

I said to the chambermaid: 

"Will you give this to the captain?" 

On her hesitating, the officer said: 

"You might as well." 

She went. In a little while — a very little while — be- 
fore I thought she could possibly have reached the cap- 
tain, while I was trying to hush the baby, who was hungry, 
a voice as kind and gentle as the benevolent face into 
which I looked, said: 

"What can I do for you, madam? You sent for me." 

"No, sir," I said, "I sent for the captain of the boat, 



44 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

but I am glad you came; you seem so kind, and may help 
me in some way in my trouble." 

"I am the captain of the boat," he said. "What can 
I do for you?" 

"You are not the gentleman who represented himself 
as the captain of the boat last night, sir, and bought for 
me my ticket. He was short and dark " 

As I was describing the pseudo-captain the gentleman 
interrupted me with: 

" He is a Federal detective, madam, and has advised 
that you be detained on the steamer until his return with 
the authorities and warrant." 

"But," I said, "he told me he had seen my father, 
as he left the steamer, make the sign of a Master Mason 
in distress, placing me in the care, not only of himself, but 
of all Masons on this steamer, and he told me I was safe 
and protected in their care, and he asked my confidence, 
but I had none to give him. He suspects me of what?" 

The captain said: 

"Your father did make that sign; your father did 
place you in our care. His appeal was to all Masons, and 
in their protection he did leave you. Come; I am cap- 
tain of this steamer, and a captain is king on his own 
boat. Where did you say you wished to go? Stand 
aside," he said to the ofificer in charge. 

Giving me his arm, he placed me and baby, carpet- 
bag and basket, in a carriage and the driver was told to 
drive to 97 Brenton street. 

"Yis, sor," said the Irishman. "97 Brinton strate, 
shure." 

"God bless you and watch over you! Good-by, lit- 
tle baby." 

After driving some time, the Irishman impatiently 
told me there was no street by that name and I would 



CARPET-BAG, BASKET AND BABY. 45 

have to get out, but not until I had paid him for the two 
hours he had been hunting "for the same." 

" I will pay you the money," said I, " but there must be 
such a place. Come, here is the letter and the instructions." 

"There's no place of the koind, an' the letther is all 
wrong," he said, spelling it out, "an' phat's to be done, 
an' where am I to be laving you? It's to the daypo I've 
got to be afther going to now." 

" Oh, I don't know," I said. " Why did you not tell the 
captain of the steamer you did not know, and have him 
tell you where to go?" 

"Shure, I thought you would be afther knowin' yure 
own moind, an' there's no one knows the place betther 
'an the loikes of me an' it's there to be a-finding." 

I did not know enough to get out and go to a drug- 
store and hunt in the directory. I was at my wits' end, 
if I had ever had any wits. There was not a soul in the 
city that I knew. I thought of the captain of the boat, 
the only friend I had, yet I was afraid to go back to seek 
him for fear the power he had would not be strong enough 
to protect me, once I had left his boat. I could think of 
no one else, nowhere else to go, and there was that in 
the captain's voice and manner of daring and strength 
that made me willing to trust myself with him, so I said: 

" Drive me back to the captain of the boat, please. I 
don't know what else to do." 

When I went on board the captain was not yet gone, 
which was an unusual thing. He had waited to see the 
officers before leaving. I answered the smile that came 
into his face, in spite of his kind heart, by handing him 
my aunt's letter, who wrote not only a very peculiar hand, 
but a very illegible one, saying: 

" Read, captain, and see if this is not Brenton 
street, the place my aunt has written me I must come." 



46 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

" ' Go to 97 Brenton street, where my niece, Mrs. C 

will bring you to my house,' " he read. " It might be any- 
thing else as well as Brenton," he said. "It looks like 
'Brenton,' but I have lived here all my life and have 
never heard of such a street. I'll get my directory, how- 
ever, and look. No," he said, " but it may be Preston ; let's 

look, but there are no C s living there. You might try 

this house, at any rate, 97 Preston street, and if you do not 
find your friends living there then come to this number, 
where my wife and I will be happy to have you as our 
guest, you and the little lost bird, till you can write to your 
friends and find out where they do want you to come." 

Off again I started with the Irishman, who had become 
interested in me by this time, and had forgotten all about 
the depot. 

" Here you are, marm, 97 Priston strate, an' a nice 
house it is, marm. Shall I take yure things in, marm?" 

" No; first take up my card, if your horses will stand." 

"Av coorse, marm, an' they will." 

I wrote on my card: 

" Does Mrs. C live here — a niece of Mrs. S ?" 

In a moment there were two or three faces at the 
windows, and in another moment as many voices at the 
carriage-door, asking, "Is this George Pickett's wife and 
child?" and I was so thankful to be once more where 
they knew George Pickett's wife and child. 

Besides the lovely people whose home it was, there was 
with them, on her way to her mother's, a daughter of Mrs. 

S , Mrs. General B , who was one of the most 

charming women I ever met. She had just returned from 
the South. Her husband, too, was in the Confederate 
army. The next day we both went out to her mother's, 
my husband's aunt's home. 



CHAPTER VII. 

"EDWARDS IS BETTER." 

The week I spent in Hartford County, Maryland, at 
the General's aunt's reminded me of my childhood, when 
I used to play that I was a " Princess or a Beggar," or 
" Morgiana of the Forty Thieves," or "The White Cat," 
or whatever character it would please me to select to 
play, for my heart and soul were separated from my 
body. I was not what I pretended to be. My body 
went to parties and receptions and dinners, and re- 
ceived people and drove and paid calls, while my soul 
waited with intense longing for the telegram, " Edwards 
is better." 

One day I had been out to dine and, coming home, 
found awaiting me the message for which eyes and heart 
had been looking for a time that seemed almost eternal. 

That night I took the train for New York, starting out 
all alone again, baby and I, I was tired and sleepy, but 
there was such joy and gladness in my heart as I thought 
of so soon seeing my husband that I did not think of 
my discomforts. I repeated the telegram, " Edwards is 
better, Edwards is better, " over and over again. I sang 
it as a lullaby, putting baby to sleep to the measure of the 
happy words, " Edwards is better. " I crooned it softly 
with shut lips, lest some stranger should hear the precious 
words, "Edwards is better." Only for baby and me was 
that sweet refrain. When baby slept I leaned back and 
closed my eyes and saw a world of beauty and bloom as 
the glad words went dancing through my heart. Was 

47 



48 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

there ever so sweet a slumber-song since babies were first 
invented to awaken the deepest melody of mother hearts? 

I went to sleep with baby in my arms. I had not 
money enough to get a berth — just barely enough to buy 
my ticket and pay my expenses through to Montreal, 
Canada, from which point the telegram was dated. 

When I awakened later I found that a homespun shawl 
had been placed under my head. I never thought about 
who had been so kind, nor why the shav/1 was there. All 
my life long every one had been thoughtful of me; things 
had been done for me, courtesies had been extended to 
me, and I had learned to accept kindnesses as only what 
I had a right to expect from the human race. Murmuring 
softly the comforting words, " Edwards is better," I 
turned my face over and went to sleep again on the shawl. 
I slept until my baby became restless from the jolting. 

We took the steamer up the Hudson from New York 
to Albany. Something made poor little baby sick. I 
censured myself for having allowed him to catch cold on 
the train while I was sleeping. He was teething, and Vv^as 
very fretful. He had been used, too, to his nurse, his 
black mammy. He missed her customary care and atten- 
tion, his cradle and rocking, and was unhappy and could 
not understand it. She used to give him his bath, to sing to 
him her negro melodies, and to dance him up and down 
in her strong arms, only bringing him to me for his daily 
nourishment and kisses and my own enjoyment of him, 
or when sometimes she wanted to go to her meals before 
Thomas was ready to put him in his little wagon. So, in 
his discomfort, he would reach out his hands and nod to 
anybody to take him. He was tired of me, and thought 
that I must, in some way, be the cause of all these 
privations and the pain and suffering he was then under- 
going. 



* ' ED WARDS IS BE TTER. ' ' 49 

The philanthropic ladies on board the steamer seemed 
very much concerned, and at a loss to understand why he 
was so unhappy with me, and, apparently, preferred any- 
body and everybody else. 

" Nurse, why do you not take the child to its mother?" 
one would say, and a look of incredulity would follow my 
assertion that I was its mother. "Then, why don't you 
quiet the child, if you are, and find out what is the matter 
with it? " and so on. 

How indignant I was! Something in my manner must 
have made them believe that it was not all right with me 
and the child, for they followed me about, asking many 
intrusive questions and making many offensive remarks. 

The crying of the baby was as disagreeable to them as 
it was distressing to me, and I was walking the deck, try- 
ing to quiet him, all tired and worn out as I was, when a 
gentleman came up to me. On his shoulder I recognized 
the shawl that had been put under my head on the cars 
the night before. It introduced "one of the least of 
these." He said: 

" Madam, excuse me, but I do not think you have had 
any dinner, and you must be worn out with hunger and 
fatigue from fasting and carrying the baby. Won't you 
let me hold him while you go down and eat something?" 

Even though he carried the shawl which bespoke my 
faith, I was afraid to trust him with so precious a treasure 
as my baby, and would rather have starved than have per- 
mitted it to go out of my sight. 

"Thank you, very much, but I could not think of 
troubling you, " I said. "No — oh, no." 

Then said he: 

" May I order something for you here?" 

I was hungry, and was so glad for the open way he had 
found for me, and said, "Yes," handing him twenty-five 

4 



50 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

cents. It was all I could afford to pay for dinner, but 
as I looked at the tray when it was brought to me, I 
thought, "How cheap things must be in New York," 
for there was soup and fish — a kind of yellow fish I had 
never seen before, salmon, I afterward learned it was — 
stewed with green peas, a bird, some asparagus and pota- 
toes, ice-cream, a cup of coffee and a glass of sherry. 

Upon his insisting that perhaps it would be restful to 
the baby, I let him hold it while I ate my dinner, I did 
not know how hungry I was, nor how much I was in need 
of nourishment. Baby immediately became quiet in his 
arms. Whether it was the change or not, I do not know, 
but in a little while he was fast asleep. I covered him up 
with the shawl to which the gentleman pointed, finished 
eating my delicious dinner, taking my time and enjoying 
it, while he read his book and held my baby. When the 
servant came and took away the tray, I arose and, thank- 
ing the stranger for his kindness, said: 

" I will take the baby now, if you please. " 

" If you would rather," he said, " yes, but I think he will 
be more comfortable with me for awhile. Then, too, you 
might awaken him if you moved him. Let me hold him 
while you rest. Here is a sweet little book, if you would 
like to read it. I think, however, it would be better for you 
tdrest; to sleep, if you could. You look really fagged out." 

The book he gave me was a child's book — it may have 
been "Fern Leaves." I can't remember the name, but 
written on the fly-leaf, in a child's irregular hand, were 
these words: 

For my dear darly popsy who is gon to fite the war fum his little 
darly dorter little mary 

Dear popsy don kill the por yangees and don let the yangees kill 
you my por popsy little mary 

Dear popsy com back soon to me an mama an grandad thats all 
I says your prayers popsy ebry day fum little mary 



"EDWARDS IS BETTER." 5I 

Beneath little Mary's name was this line: 

Little Mary died on the i6th of May, 1864 — her fifth birthday. 

1 rested, but thought of little Mary as I watched my 
own baby who was sleeping so sweetly in this childless 
stranger's arms — till presently the waves brought back to 
me the days of my childhood — the story of the sailor with 
his stolen mill, grinding out salt, forever and forever, and 
the lost talisman lost still — back to my grandmother's 
knee, listening with wonder-eyes to " Why the sea is 
salt," the while my soul anon chanted to music those all- 
healing, blissful words, " Edwards is better," gaining 
strength for the o'erhanging trial I least dreamed of — 
and the shadows rose to make place for one darker still. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ONE WOMAN REDEEMED THEM ALL. 

My attention was attracted by a man in close con- 
versation with the conductor. I was evidently the object 
of it, for they would look carefully over the paper they 
held and then at me, as if comparing me with something 
therein described. Had I been a hardened criminal, they 
would probably not have taken the risk of thus warning 
me of the fact that I was under suspicion. As my ap- 
pearance would seem to indicate that, if a law-breaker, I 
was a mere tyro in vice, they supposed they could safely 
take notes of me. I was absolutely sure that I was the 
subject of the conversation, and trembled with a pre- 
sentiment of coming evil. I tried in vain to turn my 
face toward the window, but my eyes seemed fascinated. 
A thousand preposterous fears passed in review through 
my mind, though the real one never suggested itself. I 
endeavored to dispel them each in turn, arguing that the 
scrutiny of the men foreboded nothing, because I seemed 
an object of curiosity to everybody, and now, as I recall 
my appearance, I don't wonder, for I was very odd-looking. 

In the first place, I was dressed so quaintly and looked 
so entirely unlike those around me, and was all uncon- 
scious of any peculiarity or deficiency in my apparel — 
being garmented in my very best, the traveling-gown, 
etc., in which I had been married, and which had been 
bought and made under such difficulties, and kept after- 
ward with such scrupulous care. So I was perfectly well 
satisfied with myself. 

52 



ONE WOMAN REDEEMED THEM ALL. 53 

I wore a long, loose-fitting black silk mantilla with 
three ruffles at the bottom, while those around me were 
dressed in tight-fitting, short cloth jackets. My bonnet 
was of gray straw, plaited and dyed by the servants on 
the plantation at home, and sewed into shape by our fash- 
ionable village milliner; a poke shape, extending far over 
the face, a wreath of pink moss-rosebuds on the inside, 
tangled in with my dark-brown hair, while it was trimmed 
on the outside with several clusters and bunches of 
grapes of a lighter shade of gray, also hand-made. The 
grapes were formed of picked cotton, covered with 
fleek-skin* and then tinted. My collar was one of my 
bridal presents — from our pastor's wife — made of tat- 
ting and embroidery, about five inches wide, and was 
pinned in front with a lava breast-pin. The prevailing 
collar worn by the fashionable world was made of linen, 
very narrow, only an edge of it showing, while very small, 
jaunty hats, worn back on the head, were the style. 

The conductor seemed to be arguing with this man 
as I caught his eye, and just then my baby sprang forward 
and snatched the newspaper from an old gentleman who 
was sitting, reading it, in front of me, and shrieked when 
it was loosened from his baby hands, while the old gen- 
tleman looked daggers in answer to my apologies; but, 
thank heaven! when I looked again after this diversion, 
the two men were gone. 

I had just settled back, a little unnerved and weak, 
however, when from behind me came a touch on my 
shoulder, and, turning around, I saw the officer and the 
conductor. The former said, " I have a warrant for your 
arrest, madam," and forthwith served it upon me. 

There on the cars, all alone, miles away from home 
and friends, two dollars and ten cents all my little store, 

* Fleek-skin is the thin covering of leaf lard. 



54 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

I was arrested for — stealing! Stealing my own child! 
I could not read the warrant as it trembled in my hands 
— I had never seen one before. Baby thought it was a 
compromise for the old gentleman's paper, and it was 
with difficulty rescued from him. 

As soon as my confused wits grasped the meaning of 
this I said: 

"This baby? This baby, sir? It is mine — mine — it 
is named after its father — it is mine! I can prove it by 
everybody in the world, and " 

"Well, well," said the conductor kindly, as his voice 
trembled, "that's all he wants, lady. You will only 
have to be detained, in all probability, till the next train." 

" But I must go on," I said, " for my husband is looking 
for me, and I could not stand staying away another min- 
ute longer than the time at which he expects me. Please, 
everybody, help me." 

Some were too refined even to look toward me; others 
merely glanced over their glasses or looked up from their 
books and went on reading. Some kept their faces care- 
fully turned toward the landscape; and a few, just as 
heartless and more vulgar, gazed in open-mouthed curi- 
osity. 

One woman's good heart, thank God, redeemed them 
all. She came forward, her tender blue eyes moist with 
sympathy, her black crepe veil thrown back from her 
lovely face and her waving hair with the silver threads 
among the gold all too soon, and said, in a voice so 
sweet that it might have come from the hearts of the 
lilies of the valley that she wore bunched at her swan- 
white throat: 

" Come, I will stop off with you if it must be. Let 
me see the paper." 

Simultaneously with her, the gentleman of the home- 



ONE WOMAN REDEEMED THEM ALL. 55 

spun shawl came from I don't know where, and asked, 
too, to see the paper, and both got off the train with 
me. 

I was so weak I could hardly hold or carry my baby, 
for all at once there came over me the sense of my utter 
helplessness to prove that my child was my own. There 
was no one I could telegraph to without exposing who 
and what I was, and where, and perhaps why, I was 
going. A telegram to my friends at home not only might 
betray me, but would alarm them. A telegram to my 
husband would jeopardize his safety, for he would surely 
come to me at once. 

"Look! Look!" I said to the magistrate and oflficers, 
as they read aloud the suspicions and accusations of the 
philanthropic ladies who were with me on board the 
Albany steamer, and who, in their zeal to secure a right 
and correct a wrong, without understanding the causes of 
my child's discomfort and unhappiness with me, or the 
reasons for my rather suspicious manner and embarrass- 
ment, had caused my arrest. 

Thus do the pure and holy ever keep guard over the 
sins of the world and throw the cable-cord of justice 
around the unregenerate to drag them perforce into the 
path of rectitude. May they reap the reward to which 
their virtues entitle them! 

" Look at its eyes and look at mine," holding his little 
face up against my own. "Can't you every one see that 
it is my child — my very own child?" 

" That may be, but give us the name of some one to 
whom we may telegraph — some tangible proof. If it is 
all right, there jmist be some one who knows you and who 
can testify in your behalf." 

" No, no," I said, "there is no one. I have nobody to 
help me, and if God does not show you all some way, and 



56 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

your own hearts do not convince you, I don't know what 
I shall do." 

My poor, little, half-starved, in-litigation baby refused 
to be comforted. The kind gentleman with the shawl 
could amuse him no longer. He had dashed from him 
the keys, and pushed the watch from his ear, and de- 
manded impatiently of me the rights of sustenance. The 
dear, good woman beside me, with the smile of the re- 
deemed lighting up her face, touched mine, whispering in 
my ear while I held baby's hands to prevent him in his im- 
patience from tearing apart my mantle and untying my 
bonnet-strings: 

"Do you nurse your baby?" 

" Yes," I said, "and he is so hungry — poor little thing. " 

Then she stood up, leaning on her cane, for she was 
slightly lame, and said in a voice clear and sweet: 

"Gentlemen, I have a witness" — my heart almost 
stood still — " here, in the child who can not speak. It is 
not always a proof of motherhood, but with the circum- 
stantial evidence and the youth of this mother, this be- 
yond peradventure is proof convincing. The child is still 
nourished from her own body," and she opened my mantle. 

I, who had never nursed my baby in the presence of 
even my most intimate friends, bared my bosom before 
all those strange men and v/omen and nursed him as proof 
that I was his mother, while tears of gratitude to the sweet 
friend and to God flowed down my cheeks and dropped 
on baby's face as he wonderingly looked up, trying to 
pick off the tears with his little dimpled fingers, and thank- 
fully enjoyed the proof . The men turned aside and tears 
flowed down more than one rugged face. The kind 
stranger with the shawl lifted his eyes heavenward as if 
in thanksgiving, and then turned them earthward and 
breathed a bitter curse, deep and heartfelt. Perhaps the 



ONE WOMAN REDEEMED THEM ALL. 57 

recording angel jotted down the curse on the credit side 
of the ledger with as great alacrity as he registered there 
the prayer of thanks. 

I trust that the philanthropic ladies, when the evidence 
was sent them, were as surely convinced as all these peo- 
ple were, that I had not stolen my child. I hope they 
were pleased by this indication of the existence of some 
degree of innocence in the world, outside of their own 
virtuous hearts, but — I don't know. 

" Take thy fledgling, poor mother dove, under thy 
trembling wings, back to its nest and the father bird's 
care. I shall go a few miles further where I stop to see 
my baby," said my new friend. "This little boy who 
brought me back to life is older than yours. He is the 
child of my only son, whose young life ebbed out on the 
battle-field of Gettysburg, and whose sweet spirit has 
joined that of his noble father, my husband, which, in his 
very first battle, was freed. This baby blesses our lives — 
the young mother's and the old mother's." 

The train due twenty minutes before wlis signaled; 
baby finished his " proof" on the car which was taking me 
faster and faster to the loving heart and protecting care 
that even this kind stranger saw how sadly I needed. 
The friend so kind to me on the steamer succeeded in 
getting us seats, though apart. 

The cars were crowded with soldiers returning home 
after the war; disbanded soldiers, soldiers on furlough, 
and the released prisoners, with their pale, cadaverous, 
unshaven faces and their long, unkempt hair. One from 
Andersonville, more emaciated and ragged than the others, 
was selling his pictures and describing the horrors of his 
prison life, and, as he told of his sufferings and torture, 
amid the groans' of sympathy, maledictions and curses 
were hurled against my people; and once his long, bony 



58 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

arm and hand seemed to be stretched menacingly toward 
me as he drew the picture of " the martyred Lincoln, whose 
blood," said he, "cries out for vengeance. We follow his 
hearse; let us swear a hatred to these people against whom 
he warred, and as the cannon beats the hours with solemn 
progression, renew with each sound unappeasable hatred." 

I crouched back into my seat, almost holding my breath 
as I pressed my baby against my beating heart. The 
sweet new friend touched my brow with her lips, leaving 
there a kiss and a prayer, put the lilies in my hand, and 
was gone. The cars moved on, leaving a great void in my 
heart as I thought of my God-given friend, so lately found, 
so swiftly lost. 

All this was more than thirty years ago, but one of the 
lilies yet lies in my prayer-book, glorifying with the halo 
of a precious memory the page on which it rests. 

A man, not a soldier, I think, for brave soldiers are 
magnanimous and generous always, stood up in a seat 
almost opposite mine and said: 

" When I think of the horrors of Libby and Anderson- 
ville and look at these poor sufferers, I not only want to 
invoke the vengeance of a just God, but I want to take a 
hand in it myself. Quarter should be shown to none — 
every man, woman and child of this accursed Southern race 
should be made the bondsman of his own slave for a 
specified length of time, that they might know the curse 
of serfdom. Their lands should be confiscated and given 
to those whom they have so long and so cruelly wronged. " 

As he in detail related the story of their scanty allow- 
ance, the filth and darkness of their cells, I longed to get 
up and plead for my people, and tell how they, too, were 
without soap, food or clothes; that we had no medicines 
even, except what were smuggled through the lines, and 
that our own poor soldiers were barefooted and starving; 



ONE WOMAN REDEEMED THEM ALL. 59 

and that all the suffering of prisoners on both sides could 
have been avoided by carrying out the terms of the cartel 
proposed by the Confederate government. If I had only 
dared to raise the veil and reveal the truth, sympathy 
would have tempered their bitterness; the flame of divine 
kinship smoldering in their veins, hidden as in a tomb, 
would have miraged over the gulf of wrongs a bridge 
of holier feelings. Yet the memory of the woman 
whose son had been killed on the field of Gettys- 
burg, and whose lily, now browned and withered with 
the years, I cherish with such tender care, softened the 
words that were like blows to my ear and heart. Thus 
the power of one pure heart radiating its love upon 
the world as an odorous flower, diffuses fragrance on 
the surrounding atmosphere, uplifts the sorrowful spirit 
and strengthens it to withstand the rude assaults of a vin- 
dictive world. 

The official figures of Secretary of War Stanton and 
Surgeon-General Barnes show that over three per cent, 
more Confederates perished in Northern prisons than 
Federals in Southern prisons. The report of Mr. Stanton, 
July 19, 1866, says: " Of the Federal prisoners in Confed- 
erate prisons during the war, 22,576 died. Of Confeder- 
ate prisoners in Federal prisons, 26,436 died. Surgeon- 
General Barnes said that the Confederate prisoners num- 
bered 220,000; the Federal prisoners, 270,000. Out of 
270,000 Federals more than 22,000 died; of 220,000 
Confederates more than 26,000 died.* 

General Grant, in his letter to General Butler from City 

* Mr. Blaine accounts for the greater mortality of Southern prison- 
ers by saying that the Southern men were "ill-clad, ill-fed and diseased, 
so that they died of disease they brought with them. " That being true, 
how then could the South provide any better for Northern prisoners 
than for her own soldiers? 



60 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Point, July 19, 1864, thus bespeaks his accord with his 
government in opposing the exchange of prisoners: 

It is hard on our men held in Southern prisons not to exchange them, 
but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. Every 
man released on parole, or otherwise, becomes an active soldier against 
us at once, either directly or indirectly. If we commence a system of 
exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to fight on 
until the whole South is exterminated. If we hold on to those caught, 
they amount to no more than dead men. At this particular time to re- 
lease all rebel prisoners North would ensure Sherman's defeat and would 
compromise our safety here. tj g Grant 

Lieutenant-General. 

General Grant further said, in his testimony before the 
Committee on the Conduct of the War, February, 1865: 
" Exchanges of prisoners having been suspended by reason 
of disagreement on the part of agents of exchange on both 
sides before I came into command of the armies of the 
United States, and it then being near the opening of the 
spring campaign, I did ?iot deem it advisable or just to the 
men who had to fight our battles to reiijforce the eiiemy with 
thirty or forty thonsmid disciplined troops at that time. An 
immediate resumption of exchanges would have had that 
effect without giving us corresponding benefits. The suf- 
fering said to exist among our prisoners South was a pow- 
erful argument against tlie course pursued, and so I felt it." 

In the light of historic facts, the right entry will be 
made of the suffering of the prisoners, North and South. 



CHAPTER IX. 

A FAMILIAR FACE. 

Owing- to the delay, all the staterooms in the Lake 
Champlain steamer had been taken, and my little sick 
baby and its poor tired mother were very thankful when, 
after the long, dreary night, they welcomed the dawn of 
day which counted them many miles nearer to their Mecca. 

I have forgotten the name of the place from which we 
took the train for Montreal after leaving the steamer, but 
I remember a fact of more consequence concerning it — 
that it was the wrong place. 

I received my first tariff lesson on reaching the Canada 
side, when the passengers were summoned to the custom- 
house ofifice to have their baggage examined, and I, with 
my carpet-bag, basket and baby, followed my fellow voy- 
agers. When my turn came I handed the ofificer my keys 
and checks, which, after a glance, he gave back to me, 
saying with haste and indifference, as if it might have been 
the most trivial of matters: 

"Your luggage has been left on the States side. Your 
checks were not exchanged." 

This was "the last straw." The camel's back had been 
broken by 7to clothes. Heroically I had borne up under 
dangers and hardships, accusations and imminent trage- 
dies, but the loss of my wardrobe, that greatest calamity 
which has ever been known to darken the career of mortal 
woman, was too much, and I wept aloud. Not that I had 
so large and so valuable an array of personal adornments. 
The few clothes I had were intrinsically worthless except, 

6i 



62 PICKETT AND HIS MEN- 

perhaps, as so many curios. There were gowns remodeled 
and refashioned from court dresses over a hundred years 
old. There were others entirely new as to texture, and 
grotesquely original as to style, woven on our crude looms, 
made streaked and striped with our natural dyes, trimmed 
with an improvised passementerie made of canteloupe 
and other seeds, and laces knit from fine-spun flax, with 
buttons of carved and ornamented peach-stones. Then 
there was my wedding-robe, constructed after approved 
models, somewhere in the unknown regions of the frozen 
North, and basely smuggled across the lines to me, an un- 
regenerate reprobate, who wickedly ( but artistically, be 
it known) put it on and went, an unrepentant receiver of 
smuggled goods, proudly to the altar, positively glorying 
in villainy. In the Confederacy a new wedding-dress 
was a rare and precious feature in costumery. Its intro- 
duction into a community was a social event of great 
importance. Its possession was a distinction which ren- 
dered its fortunate owner especially subject to the gra- 
cious law of noblesse oblige. My bridal-robe had draped 
the form of more than one fair maid since it had first 
eluded the vigilant eyes which guarded the Federal line. 
It was last worn by one of the most beautiful girls of 
the Confederacy when she became the wife of a distin- 
guished officer, and was put away forever when, a few 
hours later, the groom was brought back to his bride, 
wrapped in the white shroud of death. The purity of the 
bridal-robe gave place to the sombreness of the widow's 
weeds, which for many years were faithfully worn in 
memory of her fallen hero. 

My genuine grief for the loss of all my clothes touched 
the heart of the sturdy Englishman into vouchsafing the 
information that I would better return the checks for 
exchange and I would receive my luggage on the next 



A FAMILIAR FACE. 63 

train. The delight consequent upon this information, 
taken in connection with my previous grief, may have im- 
pressed the British mind with the conviction that the 
missing trunks contained an entire outfit just from Worth, 
Felix being at that time yet in the realm of the unevolved. 

Taking the wrong train at the wrong point put me into 
Montreal later than I was expected, but I religiously fol- 
lowed instructions to remain on the train which stopped 
over at Montreal, until I should be claimed, like a general- 
delivery letter. 

Every passenger had left the coach, and baby and I 
were alone. I was v.'aiting and watching breathlessly 
for my claimant, when my hungry eyes caught sight of 
three gentlemen coming straight toward me. It was with 
but a languid interest that I regarded them, for I had pre- 
conceived convictions as to the appearance of the o?ie 
who should assert proprietary rights over me, and neither 
of these newcomers seemed at first glance adapted to re- 
spond to those convictions. The face of one seemed 
rather familiar, but I was not sure, so I drew my little baby 
closer to me and looked the other way. I felt them com- 
ing, and felt them stop right by my side. 

"What will you have of me?" I asked. 

There were tears in the eyes of the gentleman whose 
face had seemed a familiar one, and the next minute baby 
and I were in his great strong arms, and his tender voice 
was reproachfully asking: 

" Don't you know your husband, little one?" 

I was looking for my General as I had been used to 
seeing him — dressed in the dear old Confederate uniform, 
and with his hair long and curling. The beautiful hair 
had been trimmed, and while he was not subject to the 
limitations of Samson in the matter of personal strength, 
a critical observer might have detected variations in per- 



64 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

sonal beauty. An English civilian suit of rough brown 
cloth took the place of the old Confederate gray. 

The two gentlemen with him were Mr. Corse, a 
banker, a brother of one of the General's brigadiers, and 
Mr. Symington, of Baltimore, a refugee. I noticed that 
these gentlemen called the General "Mr. Edwards" and 
me " Mrs. Edwards," which made me feel somewhat strange 
and unnatural, but I reflected that I was in a foreign 
country, and very far north of our old home, and perhaps 
even people's names were affected by political and cli- 
matic conditions. 

Knowing our poverty, I had expected the General to 
take us to a quiet little room in some unpretentious board- 
ing-house, but was too tired to voice my surprise when we 
were driven in a handsome carriage to a palatial home. 
I remember the beautiful grounds, the fountain, and flow- 
ers; the big English butler with side-whiskers who opened 
the large carved doors; and the pretty girl in a cap who 
took baby from my arms. 

After that I remember only being tired — so tired — so 
very tired. When I had rested enough to remember again, 
1 was on a sofa dressed in a pretty, soft, silken robe, and I 
heard a kind voice saying: 

"The lady is better;^ she will be all right. Let her 
sleep." 

Glancing up, I saw a benevolent-looking old gentleman 
and a pair of spectacles. I closed my eyes and heard the 
gentleman with the familiar face say such beautiful, such 
sweet, pleasant things, and his voice and touch thrilled my 
heart so that I kept my eyes shut and never wanted to open 
them again; and presently the pretty girl with the cap on 
came in and baby was in her arms, dressed in a beautiful 
robe. 

"Ze petite enfant — very much no hungry now — he eat 



A FAMILIAR FACE. 65 

tres much pap — he sleep — he wash — he dress — he eat 
tres much. He no hungry; he eat some more tres much 
again. He smile; he now no very much hungry again 
some more." 

Was I in the land of fairies, and was the gentleman 
with the familiar face the prince of fairies, as he was the 
prince of lovers? Our baby's outstretched arms and cry for 
me as he recognized me dispelled any such delusion, but I 
was too tired to hold out my hands to him. I soon felt his 
little face, however, nestling close against my own, and 
felt, too, the touch of yet another face, and heard the same 
voice which had made my heart thrill with bliss whisper 
again more things like unto those other things it had 
whispered, but I was too tired and too happy to speak, 
and my blessings seemed too sacred to open my eyes 
upon, so I kept them closed. When the old English 
physician came in the next day he said: 

"Ah, ha! Ah, ha! The lady is most well. Keep on 
feeding her and sleeping her. She is half-starved, poor 
lady, and half-dazed, too, by sleeplessness. Ah, ha! Ah, 
ha! Poor lady! That will do — feed her and sleep her; 
feed her and sleep her. Ah, ha! Ah, ha! That's all." 

When the old doctor was gone I remember listening 
for the tread of the sentinel outside — confusing the "ah, 
ha! ah, ha!" with the tramp, tramp, tramp — and as I 
asked, the question brought back the memory that the 
war was over, the guns were stacked, the camp was 
broken, and the General was all my very own. I looked 
around inquiringly and up into the familiar face for an- 
swer, and he, my General, explained our pleasant sur- 
roundings. 

His old friends, Mr. and Mrs. James Hutton, he said, 
had been suddenly summoned to England, and had prayed 
him, as a great favor to them, to be their guest until their 

6 



66 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

return, as otherwise the delay to make the necessary ar- 
rangements for their going would prevent their catching 
the first steamer. Thus we had a beautiful home in which 
to rest, to grow well and strong, to forget all that could 
be forgotten of the past, and to enjoy the present. 



CHAPTER X. 

VISITORS, SHILLING A DOZEN. — OUR LEFT-HANDERS. 

The first week in June the French maid came to our 
room with a telegram for Mr. Edwards, announcing that 
Mr. and Mrs. Hutton would sail for home from England 
the following week. 

My husband calculated about what time they would 
arrive, and how soon we would be forced to give up the 
comforts of their beautiful and luxurious home, which we 
were then enjoying. We began to hunt for a place to live, 
commencing with the hotels and larger boarding-houses, 
and v/inding up with the smaller ones. After a week of 
varied, and some very funny, experiences, we decided at 
last upon one house, principally because of its attractive 
court and the pleasant verandas overlooking it. 

"With its glistening fountain and pretty shrubbery and 
flowers, how nice for our baby," I said. " How cool and 
refreshing the sound of the water, and the glimpse of 
green." 

So, for baby's sake, the selection was made and our 
rooms engaged. Our landlady was a very dark bru- 
nette, and prided herself upon being a French Canadian, 
but 

"That man of mine," she sorrowfully said, "is a soggy 
Englishman, and you would hardly believe it possible he 
could be the father of our two beautiful daughters. Both 
of them are going to do well, but they don't take after their 
pa. The oldest is engaged to be married to a Stateser 
with nine businesses!" 

67 



68 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

By the "nine businesses" and "Stateser" I gathered, 
from her explanation, which she volunteered in answer 
to my puzzled look, that the fortunate son-in-law-to-be 
was a Yankee living in a small town in the State of Ver- 
mont, and owning a little country store where woolen 
and cotton goods, silks and flannels, pottery, queensware, 
hardware, groceries, grain, and so forth, were sold. In 
her admiration of him, after each alleged "business" she 
affixed the, to her, high-sounding title of "merchant." 

The second daughter, she told me, was learning to 
sing. 

"She has a s\yeet voice, but she don't take after her 
pa," she said, "and the young preacher student in the 
next room to the right of the one you have chosen is 
very much taken with her, and it looks like I'd get both 
girls off my hands before long." 

She said she could not give me the use of the parlors 
when the girls wanted them. 

"The Stateser comes a long ways, you know, and has 
to have it all to himself when he is here." 

But she generously suggested that if none "of them" 
were using the parlor at the time when my "company 
came," she would let me entertain my visitois in it at 
the rate of a '' shilling a dozen,'' which arrangement I con- 
sidered a very good one for me, as I did not expect to 
have more than a shilling's worth of visitors perhaps, in 
six months. 

Our meals were to be served in our own room, except 
on Sundays, when we would have to dine in the public 
dining-room and do our own "waiting," like the others. 
We did not exactly understand what that meant, but one 
day's experience proved it to be anything but comfort- 
able. The dinner had all been cooked on Saturday and 
was cut up and piled on the table in the center of the 



' ' A SHILLING A D OZEN. "—OUR LEFT-HANDERS. 69 

room, and we each had to serve ourselves. I could not 
help thinking of the time when my General had been 
served by butlers and waiters, each anxious to be the first 
to anticipate his wishes, and all feeling amply rewarded 
for every effort by a pleasant word or an appreciative 
smile. I wondered how any one of those obsequious at- 
tendants would feel to see us now. 

The following menu was about the average dinner 
(with the exception, of course, that on week-days it was 
warm): Corned beef, mutton pie, potato salad, pickled 
snap-beans, gooseberry tarts, and milk. Our breakfast 
was always cold; the first one was cold bread, preserves, 
a baked partridge (which is the same as our pheasant), 
and delicious coffee and butter. 

Our rooms had one discomfort: we were awakened 
every morning by the young lady making love to the bird 
of her preacher beau while she arranged his room. 

"Dear 'ittle birdie! — birdie dot a Dod? — birdie dot a 
soul? — 'ittle birdie sings praises to Doddie? Dear 'ittle 
birdie dot a dear 'ittle papa, and dear 'ittle papa must det 
him a dear, dood 'ittle wifey — dood 'ittle Tistian wifey, 
who will take tare of birdie and help him to make hio 
people dood Tistians, and help birdie and birdie's papa to 
sing praises, too; tiss again, 'ittle birdie " 

A sound as of the door opening, a rustling and a 
confused "Oh, dear!" and then "Good-morning" was fol- 
lowed by the invariable excuse for not having finished 
tidying up the room and cage before he came, "because 
birdie and I are such friends — ain't we, birdie — and time 
slips so quickly — don't it, birdie?" 

I would know she was being forgiven, though I could 
hear only the sounds of his deep, low tones between the 
chirping to — birdie, of course. Neither my husband nor 
I meant to listen to these chirpings to — birdie, of course, 



70 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

and I always put my fingers in his ears at the sound of 
them. 

After our breakfast was over and baby had been made 
comfortable, I usually sent him out with Annie for his 
walk, and she was delighted at having him all to herself. 

"Shure, and I'll not be having the interfarence of so 
many others whose rasponsability I don't be a-wanting; 
for the bairn, God save him, was afther being that kissed, 
his dinner wouldn't agray with him at all, at all. There 
was the cook and John's wife and John and the coach- 
man and that ugly French Lizette (sorra a bit am I to 
be rid of her, the vain prig) would be all afther kissing 
him until he'd be that sick his milk would curdle in him, 
and for the loife of me I couldn't be kaping the clothes 
clane on him with all their crumpling and handling; and 
it's glad that I am entirely, the saints save us, having him 
to mesilf, the blissed child!" 

The rooms were comfortable, and we found the long 
Veranda, where we spent our evenings and most of our 
mornings, not only a very pleasant change, but a source 
of amusement as well. My curiosity was greatly excited 
concerning our neighbors on the left. I was uncertain 
how many there were of them, though I put them down in 
my mind as not less than half a dozen. 

The first morning these "Left-handers," as I called 
them, were as silent as the grave till about noon, when, 
all at once, without any premonitory noises, they com- 
menced a most animated conversation, interspersed with 
laughter, mirthful and scornful. Then the tones of their 
voices would change from anger to reproach and then to 
grief, so that at one time I was so full of sympathy with 
the poor man who was being driven out into the cold 
world that it was all I could do not to go in and plead for 
him; but while I was hesitating all became quiet. I sup- 



••A SHILLING A DOZEN. "— OUR LEFT-HANDERS. yi 

posed he was gone and all was over with him, and invol- 
untarily I offered up a prayer — all the help I could give. 

Imagine, if you can, my surprise when the next morn- 
ing at a little later hour 1 heard a repetition of the same 
painful scene. The poor man had returned, I reasoned. 
Taking them all together, I thought they certainly were 
a most curious family, and I determined to enlist my hus- 
band's interest as soon as he came in. Something had 
prevented my telling him the day before. That evening 
as we were sitting on the veranda I carried my resolution 
into effect and, though he listened with his usual sweet 
patience, my description of the disturbance, to my sur- 
prise, excited in him more mirth than sympathy. 

Just as I had finished telling him, our baby was brought 
in to be enjoyed and put to sleep. "The little pig went 
to market," "the mouse ran up the clock," "the cock- 
horse" was ridden "to Banbury Cross," and after innum- 
erable "Hobble-de-gees," baby was ready, and so were 
we, for his "Bye Baby Bunting." 

When his sweet little "ah-ah-ah" accompanying ours 
grew fainter and fainter, we began to sing in the Chinook 
jargon the Lord's Prayer, which my husband had taught 
to so many of the Indians on the Pacific coast, and which 
we always sang at the last to make baby's sleep sound. 
At the words, " Kloshe mika tumtum kopa illahie, kahkwa 
kopa saghalie" (Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven), from through the open door of the room to our 
left a voice clear and sweet joined in the same jargon 
with ours to "Our Father," and as the last invocation was 
chanted, " Mahsh siah kopa nesika konaway massachie — 
Kloshe kahkwa " (Send away far from us all evil — Amen), a 
handsome stranger stepped out and, with outstretched 
hand, said to the General, with great cordiality, " Klahowya 
sikhs, potlatch lemah" (How do you do, friend; give me 



72 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

your good hand). Then followed a conversation between 
them about the Pacific coast, Fort Vancouver, San Juan 
Island, Puget Sound, the Snohomish tribe and their many 
mutual friends of the Salmon Illehe. 

All the while I was wondering what could have become 
of the other family — if they could have gone — and yet 
now and then I caught a tone in his voice as he talked to 
my husband, that sounded very similar to the tones of the 
man in trouble belonging to them, though I did not see 
how it would be possible for any one to drive, or wish 
to drive, him out of their home. When, after awhile, I 
came in for the compliments of the season, my astonish- 
ment knew no bounds when I learned that he had been 
the sole occupant of that room since Sunday night. 

The clock in the court struck seven. Rising hastily, 
and with many apologies, this strange-family man wrote 
something on his card, and handing it to my husband, 
said, "I am playing at the theater here, to-night — come 
and see me," and was gone. 

To this kind stranger, William Florence, I was in- 
debted for my first taste of the pleasures of the theater. 
Almost every evening he, with our permission, joined us 
on the veranda, shared our play with baby, cheered and 
entertained the General, and kindly took us afterward to 
seethe play. Yet, during the whole of his stay — four 
days — he never once, in the most remote way, intruded 
himself upon our confidence; and though he knew there 
was some mystery, in his innate delicacy he made no 
allusion to it. 

On Saturday evening, when his engagement was over 
and he came to say good-by, after lingering over the 
pleasant evenings we had passed together, and putting 
great stress upon the benefit they had been to him, he 
stopped abruptly, saying: 



' ' A SHILLING A D OZEN. "—OUR LEFT-HANDERS. 73 

"Confound it all! Forgive me, if I put my foot in it 
— but here is something to buy a rattle for the youngster. 
I swear I absolutely have no use for it. In fact, I never 
had so much money at one time before in my whole life, 
and it belongs by rights to the young rascal; for, if it had 
not been for the 'cat's in the fiddle,' the 'cow jumping 
over the moon,' 'getting the poor dog a bone,' and 'Our 
Father who art in heaven,' I should have spent every red 
cent of it on the fellows. Please — I insist," he said, as my 
husband refused. "I know you have had more money 
than you seem to be bothered with now; take this." 

Though we were both very much touched by the kind 
generosity of this stranger in a strange land, the General 
was firm in his refusal. 

"Well, good-by, and good luck to you," he said. "You 
are as obstinate as an 'allegory on the banks of the Nile.' 
Here it goes," putting the fifty dollars back into his 
pocket, and turning to me, with a tone I so well remem- 
bered, he wished me happiness. 

" Good-by," I said; "may 'Our Father' who art in 
heaven and his little ones whom he says 'suffer to come 
unto me,' keep your heart thoughtful for others, and gen- 
tle and kind all through this life. Believe in soul and be 
very sure of God." 

In all the years that came afterward, the friendship 
formed then between my husband and our first "Left- 
hander" was never broken — and to me it was a legacy. 

The following week I noticed his rooms were taken by 
a very strangely acting lady and gentleman. I saw there 
were two of them this time. The second evening, as I 
was putting baby, who was unusually restless and fretful 
and would not be amused or comforted, to sleep, the 
queer lady, with a " Banquo-is-buried-and-can-not-come- 
out-of-his-grave " tone and manner, said, "The child — is't 



74 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

ill, or doth it need the rod withal?" Whether the child 
needed "the rod with all" or Mrs. Winslow's soothing- 
syrup, he stopped crying at once, and while she talked 
on, never took his startled eyes from her face till he 
wearily closed them, hypnotized to sleep. 

"Hast thou a nurse — one that thou call'st trust- 
worthy?" she asked, after I had put baby in his little bed. 

"Yes, madam," I answered — "one whose love makes 
her so." 

"It is well," she said, "and if thou dost not fear to 
leave the watch with her, wilt thou and thy husband come 
as our guests to see our Hamlet as we have conceived 
him to be?" 

It was the first of Shakespeare's plays I had ever seen, 
and my blood ran cold as I breathlessly watched the 
portrayal of it by these, the most celebrated actors of 
their day (Charles Kean and his wife, Ellen Tree), and 
with talents so versatile that I cried over the tragedy as if 
my heart would break, and laughed with equal heartiness 
over "Toodles," the farce which followed. 

At the close of the play the actress brought her hus- 
band into the box and introduced him. Unlike her, he 
did all his acting on the stage, while she stabbed her po- 
tatoes and said, "What! no b-e-a-n-s?" 

We accepted their kind invitation to share their car- 
riage back to the house, and enjoyed, too, some of the 
delicious supper prepared for them. It was their last 
year on the stage, and I never saw them again, though I 
treasure their little keepsake, given me in exchange for 
one not half so pretty, and gratefully remember the 
pleasure they put into our lives during the days they 
were our "Left-handers." 

Among others, there came in time that king of come- 
dians, noble in mind as he was perfect in art, Joe Jeffer- 



* ' A SHILLING A D OZEN. "—OUR LEFT-HANDERS. J 5 

son. He was accompanied by his wife, a fascinating, 
motherly little woman. 

The second morning after meeting them, I, in compli- 
ment to her inquiries about my baby, asked after their lit- 
tle dog, to whom I had heard her husband talking as if it 
had been a child. 

She laughed and explained "Schneider," and told me 
the story which has since become the property of the 
newspapers, about how the great comedian had been 
identified to the entire satisfaction of the bank-teller by 
means of this same "Schneider," the most wonderful dog 
that ever existed in the human mind. 

Nor did this pleasant acquaintance end with our 
Canadian experience. The next time we saw Joe Jeffer- 
son was in Richmond, where he gave a performance and 
turned over the whole proceeds to a war-ruined Confeder- 
ate, and all in such a quiet manner as to fulfill the spirit of 
the Scriptural injunction regarding the right and left 
hands. The kindness which was shown by the wealthy 
tobacconist — the seeming favorite of fortune — to the poor 
lad in the beginning of that career the distinction of 
which, even then, one could foretell, was thus gracefully 
repaid a thousand times by the successful actor. 

Our landlady made a tour of inspection of all the 
rooms every Friday, but to us she made her visits longer 
each time, showing a growing interest in our affairs. 
She could not solve the mystery of our having come from 
such a palatial home to her boarding-house. Then, too, 
one of my "shilling visitors" happening to be the Gov- 
ernor-General, and another an English ofificer, they were 
also a cause of wonder. She was so insistent in this un- 
bounded curiosity that we were compelled to seek a 
larger house where we should be more lost sight of, espe- 
cially as just at this time two prominent Southern gen- 



j6 PICKETT AND HIS MEN: 

tiemen, Mr. Beverly Tucker and Mr. Beverly Saunders, 
had been gagged and taken through the lines, though 
their release was immediately demanded by the English 
government. 

Much to my husband's relief, I volunteered to assume 
the disagreeable task of notifying her, which notice she 
seemed intuitively to have anticipated and determined to 
thwart by telling of her troubles, all of which she laid at 
"that Johnson's" (her husband's) door. 

" He is got so high-minded now," she said, " he refuses 
to blacken all the boots at night — leaves the top floor 
ones till morning. Wants to set up-stairs with me and 
the girls, instead of staying down in the kitchen, looking 
for chaws and to be handy; expects us to hunt tins to 
shine and mend, and nails to drive; won't eat the board- 
ers' leavings; reads the Stateser's newspaper that he sends 
to his girl; sets on it when he hears us coming; took 
money from Stateser, too, and was that sly he was going 
to spend it on himself, and I giving him all he needs." 

Taking advantage of her pause for sympathy, I edged 
in my notice. She immediately put all the blame of our 
going on "that Johnson," and, though I assured her that 
he had nothing whatever to do with it, wailed: 

"You can't fool us, you can't fool us — he drives every 
boarder out of the house." 

Our next rooms opened on the Champs de Mars, the 
attractions of which in part made up for the loss of the 
veranda, but not for that of our " Left-handers," who had 
come and gone, making oases in our lives. 



CHAPTER XI. 

BORN WITH EMERALDS — NEMO NOCETUR. 

"Cast away this cloudy care — come, look at the sol- 
diers," I said, as I saw a shadow in the General's smile 
and heard a sigh, when the music, almost under our very 
windows, signaled the hour for dress-parade. 

The shapeless, senseless ghost of despair vanished 
with my entreaties, as we stood at the window and 
watched the soldiers, keeping time with them to step and 
tune outwardly, while hiding the muffled sound within, 
each playing we were enjoying it, without one marring 
thought of the crumpled-browed past, trying to fool each 
other till we really fooled ourselves. It was with thank- 
fulness that I saw the General watch with unfeigned in- 
terest the maneuvers of the soldiers, day after day, and 
pleasantly welcome reveille and tattoo. Our baby 
learned to march almost before he walked. 

While we were enjoying our congenial surroundings 
and each other, spite of poverty, fears for the future, and 
grief for the past, my husband became very ill. In the 
crisis of his illness, while he required all my attention, 
our baby was seized with croup. The kind old English- 
man, recommended by my good friends, was very at- 
tentive, but failed to inspire me with my wonted faith. 
The chief reason, I think, must have been that he was 
not called "Doctor," but "Mister." For two weeks he 
came once, and sometimes twice, a day, going first to 
see and bring me news of baby, who had been kindly 
taken by our friends to their home to be cared for. I 

77 



78 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

was a source of unending amusement, an unsolvable 
mystery, to the English doctor, though we were very 
good friends. 

During all this long illness I never once stopped to 
consider the cost of anything, whether it were food, medi- 
cines or delicacies of any kind, if prescribed or sug- 
gested, but purchased regardless of expense. When the 
danger was past, and our board bill was sent up, I counted 
over our little store and found there was not enough left 
to meet it. 

My husband was still too ill to be annoyed or troubled 
about anything, and with the bill hidden away in my 
pocket, I was making a plan of battle and maneuvering 
how I could fight my way out of the intrenchments, when 
he noticed that I was looking pale, and suggested that I 
go out for a little fresh air. 

Eagerly taking advantage of the excuse thus offered, 
I put on my bonnet and went down to the office and 
took from my box in the safe an old-fashioned set of 
emeralds and, asking the proprietor to direct me to the 
most reliable jeweler and to send some one to sit with 
my husband until my return, I went out. 

I had had very little experience in buying of mer- 
chants, and none whatever in selling to them, but I 
feigned great wisdom and dignity as I told the young 
man who stepped forward to wait upon me that my busi- 
ness was with the head of the firm. He took me back 
to an inner office, where an old man with grizzly-gray hair 
and a very moist countenance was looking intently through 
something, which very much resembled a napkin-ring 
screwed into his right eye, at some jewels lying on a tray 
before him. He wore his teeth on the outside of his 
mouth, and his upper lip was so drawn, in the intensity 
of his look, as to be almost hidden under his overreach- 



B ORN WITH EMERALDS — NEMO NO CE TUR. 79 

ing nose. His face, too, was wrinkled up into a thou- 
sand gullies in his concentration upon his work. 

"We don't hemploy young women 'ere," he said, 
looking up and frowning as he suddenly became aware 
of my presence. 

"I came," I explained, taking out my emeralds and 
handing them to him, "to ask you if you would not, 
please, sir, kindly buy some of these stones from me, or, 
at least, advance me some money on them." 

"This is not a pawnbroker's shop, heither, mum," he 
replied, as he carefully examined the jewels, and then, 
suddenly popping the napkin-ring out of his eye, turned 
both of the piercing little gray twinklers upon me and said: 

"Where did you get these hemeralds from, miss?" 

"I was born with them, sir," I said, indignantly. 

Either from my appearance, or for some other cause, 
he became suddenly suspicious, and not only would not 
purchase them of me, but refused to let me have them 
till I could prove my right to them. I was too young 
and inexperienced to be anything but furious, and the 
bitter, scalding tears that anger sometimes unlocks to re- 
lieve poor woman's outraged feelings, were still falling 
fast when I reached the hotel with the clerk whom the 
jeweler had sent back with me that I might prove by the 
proprietor my ownership of the jewels with which I was 
born. 

He, in his sympathy, shared my anger and, after ex- 
pressing his sincere regret that I should have been sub- 
jected to such an indignity, advised, as he snatched the 
case from the clerk with a withering look of scorn trans- 
lated into more emphatic language, that I should look 
carefully over them to be sure that neither this hireling 
nor his master had abstracted any of the stones, for his 
experience had been that suspicion was born of guilt. 



80 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

As he again locked up my emeralds in his safe he 
kindly asked how much money I needed, and begged 
that in the future I would permit him to advance for me 
if I should need any, and furthermore, "as to the board 
and expenses here," he said, "Mr. Edwards and I will ar- 
range all that when he is well — entirely well." 

Through the goodness of God and the skill of my kind 
physician, my loved ones were spared to me, and one 
day, some time after they were well, as I was reading 
the paper to my husband, I chanced across an advertise- 
ment for a teacher of Latin in Miss Mcintosh's school. 
The professor was going abroad and wanted some one to 
take his place during his absence. The chuckle of de- 
light which I involuntarily gave as I read it, provoked 
from the General the remark that I was keeping some- 
thing very good all to myself. I slyly determined that 
this little suspicion should be verified and that I would 
make an application at once for the position; then, if I 
should fail, I alone would suffer from the disappointment. 
So, just as soon as I could arrange it, I donned my best 
clothes, assumed a most dignified mien, went to the num- 
ber advertised and asked to see the professor. 

I was shown into the primmest of parlors — the kind 
of room one feels so utterly alone in, without even the 
suspicion of a spirit around to keep your own spirit com- 
pany. Each piece of furniture was placed with mathe- 
matical precision, and all was ghost-proof. The proprie- 
tress, who came in response to my call, seemed put up in 
much the same order. She was tall and angular, and her 
grizzly- red hair was arranged in three large puffs (like 
fortifications, I thought) on each side of her long, thin 
face, high cheek-bones, Roman nose, and eyes crowded up 
together under gold-rimmed spectacles. As she held my 
card in her hand and looked at me with a narrow-gauge 



BORN WITH EMERALDS— NEMO NOCETUR. 8l 

gaze, piercing my inmost thoughts, and with that dis- 
couraging " Well !-what-can-I-do-for-you?" expression, I 
felt all my courage going. My necessities aroused me 
from my cowardice, and I said as bravely as I could: 

" I have had the good fortune to read your advertise- 
ment, madam, in the paper this morning, and have come 
in answer to it. May I see the professor?" 

Looking curiously at my card and then over her glasses 
at me, she said, in a voice like an animated telephone 
through which some one was speaking at the other end: 

"The advertisement was for a teacher, not for a pupil." 

"I am perfectly aware of that," I answered, "and 
came in response, to offer my services to the professor." 

A most quizzical expression bunched up the corners 
of her mouth and wiggled across her little colorless eyes, 
as she said: 

" I will send the professor down to you." 

Looking over her spectacles again, as if for a verifica- 
tion of her first impression of me, she was gone. 

Returning after a little while, she said: 

"The professor requested me to ask if you would be 
so good as to come up into the recitation-room." 

I saw as soon as I had entered that a description of me 
had preceded my coming, and not a very flattering one, 
either, I judged, from the faces of the professor and the 
pupils. 

The class consisted of fourteen young ladies, all of 
them apparently older than I was. The professor fin- 
ished the sentence he was translating on the board, 
rubbed it out, wiped his hands on the cloth, replaced it, 
came forward and was duly presented by Miss Mcintosh, 
who remained in the room. He had a pleasant, round, 
smooth face, a bald head and large gray eyes, was short 
and stout, with a sympathetic, cultured voice and manner. 

e 



82 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

" Miss Mcintosh tells me you came in reply to my ad- 
vertisement. I have been forced to advertise in order to 
save time, as my going abroad is unexpected and brooks 
no delay." 

" I am very glad you had no option but to advertise, 
else it might not have been my good fortune to know of, 
and respond to, your wants, sir." 

" And you have really come to apply for the position ? " 
he asked. 

" I have, sir." 

The expression on Miss Mcintosh's face, the nudging 
and suppressed titter among the pupils which this an- 
swer brought forth was not calculated to lessen my em- 
barrassment. 

"Have you had any experience in teaching?" 

"No, sir," I said. 

" May I ask where you were educated." 

" At home, except for two years, sir," I answered. " Then 
I went to Lynchburg College, where I was graduated." 

" Is that in England? " 

"Oh, no, sir," said I, with astonishment at his igno- 
rance, and then recollecting myself just as I was about to 
inform him that Lynchburg was the fifth town in popu- 
lation in Virginia, was on the south bank of the James 
River, one hundred and sixteen miles from the capital of 
the State, and within view of the Blue Ridge mountains 
and Peaks of Otter, I stopped short, embarrassed by my 
imprudence. The professor, taking no notice of my con- 
fusion, went on to say: 

"And so you were graduated there? My class here 
has just finished Caesar. Do you remember how Caesar 
commences?" 

" Yes, sir," I said, and repeated: " Gallia est omnis di- 
visa in partes ires." 



BORN WITH EMERALDS— NEMO NOCETUR. 83 

"You have the Continental pronunciation, I see." 

He gave me several sentences to translate; then an ode 
from Horace and some selections from Catullus and 
Tibullus. By this time the pupils were silent, and Miss 
Mcintosh's expression was changed. 

He then asked me to wj^ite and parse a sentence, which 
I did, saying sotto voce as he took the chalk from me: 

"That was a catch question." 

" Please translate and parse this," said he, without 
noticing my aside, and he wrote in Latin, "The President 
of the United States said ' nobody is hurt ' " 

" Before he wrote any further, instead of translating, I 
looked up at him and said: 

" But, oh, sir! somebody was hurt." 

Quickly he cleared the board, put down the cloth, 
wiped his hands, turned his face to me and offering his 
hand, said, not to my surprise, because I had faith in 
prayer, but rather to that of Miss Mcintosh and the 
young ladies: 

" I will engage you, Mrs. Edwards, and will be respcm- 
sible for you." 

We then went down to the parlor, and I gave him the 
names of the only friends I had in Montreal of whom he 
could make inquiries regarding me. The next day I gave 
my first lesson to the class. I became very fond of them 
all and, after my embarrassment of the first few days, got 
along very well with them. 

The General was very curious to know where I went 
every day, but, knowing it gave me great pleasure to be 
thus mysterious, humored me and asked no questions. 

My first month's salary was spent in part payment on 
an overcoat for him, and only Our Father and the angels 
know what joy filled my heart, that with the work of my 
hands I could give him comfort. Theii my secret was out. 



84 



PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 



I was sorry when the cold weather came. The snows 
not only put an end to the military reviews, but covered 
up the beautiful green. There were very few diversions 
for us, but I was just as happy as it was possible for me 
to be. Indeed, those were the very happiest days of my 
whole life, and I was almost sorry when General Rufus 
Ingalls wrote a letter to my husband, inclosing a kind 
personal letter from General Grant, together with the fol- 
lowing ofificial assurance of his safety: 



c^t^^^^'^if^ 










v^— 



^ 



<^ 







^r^~„ 



BORN WITH EMERALDS— NEMO NOCETUR. 85 

General Grant also wrote that it had not been at all 
necessary for us to go away in the first place, and that 
the terms of his cartel should have been respected, even 
though it had necessitated another declaration of war. 

We stopped in New York en route to Virginia, ex- 
pecting to remain there only three or four days, but we 
found that our board had been paid in advance for two 
weeks, that a carriage had been put at our service for that 
length of time, and that in our box was a pack of wine- 
cards marked "Paid." To this day I do not know how 
many people's guests we were, for a great rrftiny of Gen- 
eral Pickett's old army friends were there at the time, and 
they all vied with each oth.r in making it pleasant and 
happy for us. 



CHAPTER XII. 

TURKEY ISLAND. 

As soon as we could make our plans we went down 
to Turkey Island, our plantation on the banks of the 
James River. A rough cottage, hastily built, stood on 
the site of #ie grand old colonial mansion burned by 
Butler. Around it were the great melancholy stumps of 
the old oaks and elms which Butler had seen fit to cut 
down. 

Turkey Island, called by the Federal soldiers Turkey 
Bend, is in Henrico County, which is one of the original 
shires into which Virginia was divided in 1634, 

Historic Richmond, the State capital, a town estab- 
lished in the reign of George II., on land belonging to 
Colonel Byrd, is its county-seat. Brandon, the home of 
the Harrisons; Shirley, the home of the Carters; and 
Westover, the home of the Byrds, where Arnold landed 
on the 4th of January, 1781, and proceeded on his march 
toward Richmond, are neighboring plantr,tions; and Mal- 
vern Hill, where one of our internecine battles was fought, 
adjoins Turkey Island. 

Not far distant is the famous Dutch Gap canal, the 
useful legacy which Butler left to the State of Virginia, 
and which, in the advantages it gave the commonwealth, 
to some extent atoned to my General for the destruction 
of the Pickett home. 

Diverting his troops for a time from wanton spolia- 
tion, Butler set them to digging a canal at Dutch Gap to 
connect the James and Appomattox, thereby shortening 

86 



TURKEY ISLAND. 87 

by seven miles the road to Richmond, and placing the 
State traffic under a permanent obligation to his memory. 
To protect his men while they worked, he stationed his 
prisoners in the trench beside them, in order that the 
Confederates might not yield to the otherwise irresistible 
temptation to fire upon them. 

Butler may not have been gifted with that fascinating 
suavity of demeanor which is necessary to render a man 
an ever-sparkling ornament to society, but, from a prac- 
tical, business point of view, he was not wholly destitute 
of commendable qualities. His Dutch Gap canal is not 
only a lasting monument to his progressive spirit, but a 
benefit to commerce, and an interesting feature which has 
attracted visitors from many nations. 

Out on a point of the plantation, back from the river 
in a clump of trees — the beginning of the big woods — is 
still standing a most interesting monument. The top of 
it was broken off by Butler's troops in a search for hid- 
den treasure. It was erected by William and Mary Ran- 
dolph in 1771. The following is a copy of the inscription 
on one of its sides: 

The foundation of this pillar was laid in 1771, when all the great 
rivers of this country were swept by inundations never before experi- 
enced; which changed the face of nature and left traces of their violence 
that will remain for ages. 

My first visit to this monument is one of the sweetest 
memories of my Turkey Island life. I had gone with my 
husband to hunt rabbits and birds — a hunt more for the 
meat than for the sport in those poverty-stricken days, 
when our larders were greatly dependent upon the water 
and the woods. 

The day was fine, and the dew was yet glistening as 
we came suddenly and without warning within touch of 



88 PICKETT AND HIS MEM. 

the gray, broken monument shut in and surrounded by 
the great forest trees. In silence and solemn awe, in the 
strange light and sudden cool beneath the shadows my 
hero-soldier stacked his gun and, raising his cap, he 
gently and silently reached for my hand. I slipped it 
fftto his and drew close to him. A bird was singing in 
the distance. 

"God's choir," he said, and in his beautiful voice sang 
his favorite hymn, "Guide me, O, thou great Jehovah." 
Then he taught me these lines: 

The groves are God's first temples. Ere man learned 

To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, 

And spread the roof above them — ere he framed 

The lofty vault to gather and roll back 

The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood, 

Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down, 

And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks 

And supplication. 

"Is not that monument one of the oldest in Virginia?" 
I asked of my General, who, I believed, knew everything. 
"No," he said. "There are many older, but the oldest 
one in the United States, I believe, is one erected to a 
poor fellow who died on your birthday. It is on the 
banks of Neabsco Creek in Fairfax County. Once when 
I was on furlough Snelling and I came across it and 
copied it down. The poor fellow was a companion of 
John Smith. The inscription on the monument simply 
said: 

"'Here lies ye body of Lieut. William Herris, who 
died May i6, i6o8, aged 65 years; by birth a Briton; a 
good soldier, a good husband and neighbor.'" 

These rambles over the fields and woods, through the 
clover and sweetbrier, keeping step and chatting with 
my General where he, as a boy, had often tramped v/ith his 



TURKEY ISLAND. 89 

father, are among the blessedest of my blessed memories. 
My husband's classic taste and perfect harmony and sim- 
ple, pure heart made him a great lover of nature, and the 
trees and the plants, the stones, the sod, the ground, the 
waters, the sky, and all living animals, were his kin. 

Though my warrior was a lion in battle, he was gentle, 
amiable, good-humored, affectionate, and hospitable in 
his home. The same exuberant and hopeful spirit which 
cheered and encouraged his soldiers in the field was felt 
in his home life. All the world are witnesses of his pa- 
triotism and unselfishness, as he offered his life for the 
success of the cause in which he had faith. He was never 
disheartened by the most complicated difficulties. Un- 
spoiled by fame, just and loyal, he deserved the love he 
received — for he was worshiped by his family, idolized 
by his soldiers, honored by all parties and all nations — 
my brave warrior, as simple as a child, as high-minded as 
he of whom the word-magician said: 

Every god did seem to set his seal, to give the world assurance 
of a man. 

It was here, on the site of the old home, beautiful 
still, though so sadly changed, among the dead stumps 
where once waved the foliage of the magnificent ancestral 
trees, we began to write our story for our children and, as 
the General said, "for the children of the old division, 
if it is good enough." 

Far away from our dear old Turkey Island and the 
sweet old days I finish the task which we, in happy 
mood, set for ourselves. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MEXICAN AND INDIAN WARS. 

" Right or wrong, my country." Statesmen may argue 
— soldiers must fight. 

When in 1819 the United States, in the exuberance of 
her territorial wealth, voluntarily threw Texas into the 
hands of Spain as a bonus for the cession of Florida, for 
which adequate compensation had been already given, 
it would have taken a far-sighted statesman to foretell 
that the lavish extravagance would sometime fuTnish 
occasion for an unjust war of aggression. 

The seeds were sown then with spendthrift hand, to be 
reaped in a harvest of darkness little more than a quarter 
of a century later and, whatever a soldier may have 
thought of the justice of the cause, his duty was to follow 
his flag. 

The West Point class of 1846 probably held that all 
that "pomp and circumstance of glorious war "was set 
upon the stage especially foe their instruction and em- 
ployment. Whether it was or not, that fortunate class 
was ushered upon the scene just in time to get the full 
benefit of the situation. 

Thus it happened that when General Scott led to 
the siege of Vera Cruz his devoted band of warriors, 
accompanied by a pontoon-train, " to cross rivers," in 
a region conspicuously devoid of those picturesque 
physical features. Lieutenant George E. Pickett, just 
from West Point, was one of the number. I quote from 
a letter just received from Major Edwin A. Sherman, 

90 




^^^^^i^^ 

Z'^' 

"^t/^ 




/^^ ^i^^^ 



MEXICAN AND INDIAN WARS. 9I 

of California, a comrade of Lieutenant Pickett in those 
early days: 

I knew the gallant George E. Pickett when he first received his 
commission as second lieutenant in the United States army and joined 
his regiment, the Eighth United States Infantry, Colonel and Brevet 
Major-General William J. Worth, soon after the battle of Monterey; 
and at Saltillo, Mexico, under General Zachary Taylor; and under Gen- 
eral Winfield Scott from Vera Cruz to the capture of the City of Mexico. 

He was in the first line in order of landing on the 
beach of Collado on the 9th of March, 1847, when the 
setting sun was reflected from the silvery crown of Ori- 
zaba, the batteries of San Juan de UUoa frowning down 
upon the intruders and giving them grim welcome with a 
menacing salute of heavy guns. 

On March 22 General Scott summoned the city of Vera 
Cruz and the castle to surrender, an invitation which 
was declined with that distinguished politeness which 
marks the bearing of the Spaniard, whether in the sunny 
land of the ancient Castilian, or the more rugged sur- 
roundings which environ the inhabitants of the Spanish 
regions of the New World. 

Unfortunately for the gallant little city of Vera Cruz, 
revolutions do not stop in Spanish-American countries for 
a slight circumstance like a foreign invasion. Invasions are, 
in a manner, accidental and epidemic in character — revo- 
lutions are endemic, perennial, and necessary to civic and 
aesthetic existence. The only time that a Spanish- Ameri- 
can may be said to be in danger of falling into melan- 
cholia and contracting hypochondriac dyspepsia is in the 
accidental interlude that may once in a very great while 
intervene between revolutions. 

One of these festivities was at that time prevailing in 
the City of Mexico, and the brave little town of Vera 
Cruz, with its garrison of thirty-three hundred and sixty 



92 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

men, counting the castle force, was left to choose between 
death and the eternal stain of infamy which would blot her 
honor if she tamely surrendered. She chose death. 

The sister city of Puebla, having a vacation between 
revolutions, sent twenty thousand dollars to assist in pre- 
paring for the siege, and medical and surgical supplies 
were procured with money gained by the ladies of Vera 
Cruz by means of amateur theatrical performances. Per- 
haps it is well for the race that the human mind does not 
lose its interest in the mimic stage even in the presence 
of the most solemn and impressive tragedy of real life. 

With a thorough knowledge of the fact that the city 
could not be successfully defended by an inside force, 
even though it had been much larger than it actually 
was, heroic little Vera Cruz shut herself up within her old 
Spanish walls to die for honor. 

For seven days the doomed city endured a combined 
assault of Scott's army and a terrific tempest of wind and 
sand which nature had precipitated upon the unfortunate 
little town. On the morning of the 29th of March the 
garrison marched out with all the honors of war through 
the Gate of Mercy, stacked arms in the Plain of Cocos, 
the lowered colors saluted by a conqueror whose respect 
and admiration could withhold no honor which might be 
granted to a vanquished but not inglorious foe. 

It may be interesting to the reader of subsequent his- 
tory to note that the batteries turned with such telling 
effect against the courageous little garrison of Vera Cruz 
were arranged by Robert E. Lee, captain of engineers, a 
member of General Scott's military staff, with the assist- 
ance of Lieutenant Beauregard. 

Plucky little Vera Cruz having been disposed of, Gen- 
eral Scott started on a northwest march, his object being 
the City of Mexico, two hundred miles away. Santa Anna 



MEXICAN AND INDIAN WARS. 93 

had some days the start of him, and when the division 
of General Twiggs reached the pass of Cerro Gordo he 
found there a battery and a hostile line crossing the road. 

Captain Joseph E. Johnston, topographical engineer, 
discovered these obstacles to comfortable progress, hav- 
ing the misfortune, while prospecting for them, to arrest 
two musket-balls proceeding on their lively way. Some 
of us may be impressed by the fact that Joseph E. early 
formed the habit of stopping musket-balls, and that it 
lingered with him uncomfortably until a much later period 
in his military career. 

Santa Anna, being aware of these explorations on the 
part of the invader, spent the 12th of August in examin- 
ing his lines and preparing for an attack the next day. 
Having attended to his military duties, he dined with his 
staff and high officers, enjoying the patriotic music of his 
fine band, and congratulating himself and his friends upon 
the prospect of having yellow fever as a valuable ally in 
fighting the enemy, a pious aspiration which has since 
been known to bring solace to the Spanish mind. 

The longed-for ally did not appear in time to be of 
service, and the next day the crags of Cerro Gordo, 
through which Santa Anna had said "not even a goat 
could pick his way," were overrun with the soldiers of 
General Shields. Santa Anna's chief of cuirassiers, 
Velasco, fell at the foot of Telegrafo; and Vasquez, the 
central hero of the Mexican army, the admiration of 
friend and foe alike, surrounded by the guns of his bat- 
tery, had the happiness to meet a soldier's glorious 
death. 

In the rocky cliffs of the Telegrafo, Captain John B. 
Magruder gave evidence of those fighting qualities which 
were afterward to be used against the flag for which he 
was now doing such valiant battle. 



94 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The way to Mexico was opened on the 19th and 20th 
of August by the battle of Contreras, in which our young 
Second-Lieutenant Pickett received his first wound in the 
service of his country. This experience, however, did not 
prevent his doing good work at the battle of Churubusco, 
he being in one of the two regiments which crossed the 
Rio Churubusco and held the causeway which led to the 
city. The historian says: 

Breret-Major George Wright, Captains Bumford and Larkin Smith, 
First Lieutenant and Adjutant James Longstreet, Second Lieutenants 
James G. S. Snelling and George E. Pickett, of the Eighth Infantry, 
were all distinguished at this point. 

There is more than one name in that list of the glorious 
old Eighth which will be seen again in the record of the 
nation's history. The brevet which Lieutenant Pickett 
received for distinguished gallantry at Contreras and 
Churubusco must have had as much influence as the min- 
istrations of the surgeons in healing all his wounds. 

He was more fortunate in the battle of El Molino del 
Rey from which, though he was one of the storming party 
that Worth sent against the mill in this most bloody of 
the battles of the Mexican war, he emerged without a 
scratch. His brother lieutenant, J. G. S. Snelling, was 
less happy, being severely wounded in the charge. 

After this battle, which resulted in the complete rout 
of the Mexican army, Santa Anna, to revive the sinking 
spirits of his people, proclaimed that he had won a great 
victory. This circumstance may serve to recall to the 
mind of the reader of recent events the old adage, " His- 
tory repeats itself." 

East of Molino del Rey was a magnificent grove of 
cypress trees planted by the kings away back in the days 
of Aztec glory. Here Montezuma had his villa, Chapul- 



MEXICAN AND INDIAN WARS. 95 

tepee, "the hill of the grasshopper," and here, on the 
morning of July 13, 1847, ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^t descendant of that 
brave old monarch, fighting with the usurpers under 
whose cruel hand had sunk the glory of his great ancestor. 

Chapultepec was the key to the City of Mexico and, 
as it stood in sullen strength, crowned by batteries, sur- 
rounded by breastworks and defended by mines, it must 
have seemed to the observer that the capital was securely 
locked and bolted. 

Fourteen hours of steady fire on the 12th of Septem- 
ber prepared the way for the grand assault of the 13th. 
In this attack Lieutenant-Colonel J. E. Johnston led one 
column. Lieutenant Lewis A. Armistead, of the Sixth 
Infantry, was the first to leap into the great ditch sur- 
rounding the fortress. 

Ascending the hill to the castle, Lieutenant James 
Longstreet was severely wounded, and was carried off the 
field by Captain Bumford. As he fell Lieutenant Pickett 
sprang to his place and led on the men. The colors of 
the regiment were borne by Corporal McCauly of Company 
I, who fell wounded, being the sixth color-bearer to be shot 
within five days. Lieutenant Pickett seized the flag, carried 
it as he charged up the height, and, while the battle raged 
below, took down the Mexican standard and planted the 
colors of the Eighth Regiment with the national flag in 
triumph on the summit of the castle of Chapultepec. 
For this act of gallantry he was brevetted captain. 

Mr. Sherman says of Lieutenant Pickett at this time: 

In all the battles from the siege of Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Chu- 
rubusco, and Molino del Rey, when he was the first to plant the American 
flag and the colors of his regiment upon the parapet of the castle of 
Chapultepec, to the surrender of the City of Mexico, he carved a path- 
way of glory and fame in the years of his younger manhood, that com- 
manded the admiration and pride of all who had the honor to serve with 
and under him to the entrance of the Halls of the Montezumas. His ex- 



96 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

ample inspired the rank and file of his regiment to the highest pitch of 
courage and valor, that warranted the promotion of some of them from 
the ranks to commissioned officers in the army for gallantry upon the 
field of battle. 

Lieutenant Jackson, later known to fame as "Stone- 
wall," led a section of Magruder's artillery, and was bre- 
vetted major for skill and bravery. 

The battle of Chapultepec was pervaded with a literary 
atmosphere by the presence of Captain Mayne Reid. 

Having successfully turned the key, the American 
army proceeded to march on to the citadel by the way of 
the gates Belen and San Cosme. Over the Belen gate 
Quitman, after a fierce contest, waved the flag of the 
Palmetto regiment in token of victory. 

The gallant Eighth was a part of the column led by 
Worth against the gate of San Cosme. In the fierce 
struggle which resulted in the surrender of the last bar- 
rier to the Mexican capital, Lieutenant Pickett did valiant 
service, for which he has received honorable mention in 
history. On the night of the 13th Santa Anna evacuated 
the City of Mexico, and on the morning of the 14th 
Scott's army took possession of the Halls of the Monte- 
zumas. 

Thus the curtain fell on the first act in the drama of 
the military career of the youthful warrior who was des- 
tined to lead the greatest charge known to history. 

After the close of the Mexican war Lieutenant Pickett 
served for a number of years in Texas and upon the 
southern frontier. 

He commanded a company in the Ninth Infantry, 
which was recruited and organized at Old Point Comfort 
in the summer of 1855. Early in December the regiment 
was ordered to the Pacific coast by way of the Isthmus, 
and left Fortress Monroe on the St. Louis. Before it 



MEXICAN AND INDIAN WARS. 97 

reached the Isthmus it was divided, six companies under 
Colonel Wright being placed on one of the Pacific steam- 
ers. Four companies, one of which was Captain Pick- 
ett's, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Casey, set 
sail on another steamer. 

The voyage to San Francisco, where the first stop was 
made, consumed between three and four weeks. Here 
the regiment was ordered to Oregon and Washington 
Territories, six companies going to Fort Vancouver, and 
four to Puget Sound. 

Captain Pickett's company was one of those which 
went to the Sound, and was soon after stationed at Bel- 
lingham Bay, where their captain remained as command- 
ing officer. 

An Indian war was then raging, the tribes in all the 
region from California to British America, numbering 
about forty-two thousand warriors, having risen against 
the northwestern settlers. Opposed to this formidable 
array were fourteen hundred regulars and two thousand 
volunteers. Two years of warfare reduced the Indians to 
such a degree of submission that no tribe among them, 
except the Modocs, ever again made war. 

Captain Pickett was greatly distinguished in this war, 
not only as a soldier, but as a promoter of the arts of 
peace. He made friends even of his enemies, learning 
the dialects of the different tribes, that he might be able 
to teach them better principles of life than any they had 
known. 

Over them he exerted an almost mesmeric influence. 
The red men were all his friends, but the most devoted 
among them were the Nootkams and Chinooks, who 
greeted and spoke of him always as "Hyas Tyee," "Hyas 
Kloshe Tyee," "Nesika Tyee," "Great Chief," "Great 
Good Chief," "Our Chief." He translated into their own 



98 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

jargon, and taught them to say, and to sing, some ot our 
most beautiful hymns and national airs, and the Lord's 
Prayer: 

Nesika Papa klaksta mitlite kopa saghalie, tik-egh 
pee kloshe kopa nesika tum-tum Mika nem; Kloshe pee 
Kloshe Mika hyas Saghalie Tyee kopa konaway tilikum: 
Klosha kwah-ne-sum Mika tum-tum kopa illahie, kakwa 
kopa Mika saghalie. Potlatch konaway sun nesika muck- 
amuck pee chuck pee itl-wil-lie. Spose nesika mamook 
masachie, wake Mika hyas Saghalie Tyee hyas solleks, 
pee spose klaksta massachie kopa nesika, klaksta mitlite 
kee-kwi-he, nesika solleks kopa klaska. Mam-ook tip- 
shin nesika kok-shut. Mahsh siah kopa nesika kon-away 
massachie. Nesika tum-tum pee tik-egh. Wah-ne-sun. 
Kloshe kahkwa. 

Our Father who lives in the far above, beloved and 
hallowed in our hearts [be] Thy name; Great and good 
Thou great The above Chief among all people: Good 
always Thy will upon earth as in Thy far above. Give 
every day our food and water and meat. If we do ill, 
[be] not Thou [the] great far above Chief very angry, 
and if any one evil towards us, not we angry towards 
them. Mend up our broken ways. Send away far from 
us all evil. Thine is the great strength and love. For 
all the suns. Good so. 

When Captain Pickett quitted the Pacific coast he left 
no truer mourners than these simple aborigines, whose 
hearts had yielded to kindness as the flower opens to the 
gentle rays of the sun. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SAN JUAN. 

When Charles II., on the i6th of May, 1670, granted a 
charter to the Hudson's Bay Company, composed of 
Prince Rupert and seventeen other enterprising spirits, 
with the primary object of "the discovery of a new pas- 
sage into the South Sea," as the Pacific Ocean was then 
known, and the secondary purpose of trade with foreign 
countries, he did not look forward to the complications 
which would arise therefrom for future generations to un- 
ravel. It was not a characteristic of the Stuarts to take 
thought of the morrow. They followed their own sweet 
will to-day, happy if on the morrow some other head 
came off instead of their own. In the case of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company, in addition to other disadvantages, a 
nice piece of other people's property was lost to the 
English crown, an experience which is regarded as dele- 
terious to the British constitution. 

Charles II., like some other men, had come into the 
world nearly a century too late for the full perfection of 
his plans; that is, if he ever had any plans except for the 
extraction of as much amusement as possible out of the 
passing moment, and the murder of the unfortunate peo- 
ple who had been most loyal to him in his exile. If his 
schemes included any permanent designs upon the north- 
west coast of America, Alexander VI., Pope of Rome, 
had thwarted them by preceding the royal robber and 
making the most of the advantage which accrues to the 
man who is first upon the field, if he has the wit to 

99 



100 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

comprehend his privileges and the force to seize upon 
them. 

Under the papal bidl of 1493, Spain claimed by dis- 
covery the entire Pacific coast from Panama to Nootka 
Sound on Vancouver's Island, including harbors, islands 
and fisheries, and extending indefinitely inland, covering 
the original Oregon Territory, which contained Oregon, 
Washington, Idaho and British Columbia, up to fifty-four 
forty. Spain has never fallen behind the most enterpris- 
ing regions of the world in the matter of claiming things. 
Her weakness lies mainly in respect to holding them. 

In 1513, when, from a promontory, the delighted vision 
of Balboa first rested upon the peaceful waves of the 
Pacific, which by their gentle movement gave to the great 
sea its reposeful name, the discoverer of this majestic 
ocean took possession of it for his king as a private sea. 

In 1558 that most distinguished pirate. Sir Francis 
Drake, visited the northwestern coast, and in 1579 he 
erected a monument there to signify the fact that he had 
graciously accepted the sovereignty of that region for his 
queen, who occasionally turned from her amiable vocation 
of cutting off the heads of her lovers and otherwise 
bringing those devoted victims to discomfiture, to the 
truly royal British diversion of accepting her neighbor's 
lands. 

The first attempt of the English to open traffic on the 
northwestern coast met with opposition from the Spanish 
government, and for nearly two centuries the rival nations 
enjoyed the privilege, so dear to regal souls, of carrying 
on a desultory warfare over the territory occupied by 
beasts clothed in furs worth far more in the markets of 
the world than the human beings who, tortured by the 
greed and oppression of despotic European powers, 
might have found a refuge here. It is not alone in the 



SAN JUAN. 10 1 

nineteenth century that man has fallen below par in the 
market-place. 

England claimed the right to the trade accruing from 
the facilities so lavishly afforded by nature on the north- 
western coast, but when she attempted to enforce that al- 
leged right Spain captured and confiscated her vessels. 
This action brought the question into the tangled web of 
diplomacy, wherein verbal niceties are skilfully made to 
do service instead of batteries and bayonets, as being 
safer and better adapted to the gradually deteriorating 
physiques of men. 

In 1789 the issue was made at Nootka Sound. The 
younger Pitt, actuated by an inherited hatred of Spain, 
shaped the policy which ended in the Nootka treaty of 
1790. There is no doubt as to the strength of Pitt's ani- 
mosity to the rival country, but the power of his diplo- 
macy may be questioned, in view of the fact that Great 
Britain failed in her effort to secure the coveted division 
of territory, and was granted only the right to navigate, 
trade and fish on the northwestern coast. The treaty was 
exclusively commercial, and in nowise territorial, Spain 
retained her sovereignty over all the land. Four years 
later Spain, without formally relinquishing her rights, 
withdrew from Nootka Sound and fixed her boundary at 
the present northern limit of California. This removed 
from the situation Spain as an actual claimant. This 
treaty was abrogated in 1796 by the war between England 
and Spain. 

As a result of the fall of the French power in North 
America on the Plains of Abraham one sad September 
day in I759. France transferred to Spain all her territorial 
possessions on the west of the Mississippi, being impelled 
thereto by the necessities of war and by the fear that her 
remaining American possessions might fall into British 



102 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

hands. She never recovered from this blow to her inter- 
ests and her pride, and in 1800 was quite ready to accept 
the offer of the King of Spain to exchange Louisiana for 
Tuscany, in order to secure a bridal present for his daughter; 
who, having married too small a fraction of the earth for 
a royal potato-patch, must be provided with a piece of 
ground worth reigning over. This Spanish territory of 
Louisiana included the former territory of Oregon, and 
by this barter passed over to France. 

Failing in his ambition to restore a grand new France 
in America, and fearing the growing encroachments of 
the English, Napoleon, in 1803, sold the territory to the 
United States, who, by this purchase, acquired all that 
Spain had ever held in the Northwest above the forty- 
second parallel, which Spain claimed extended to fifty- 
four forty. The claim to all the coast up to the forty-ninth 
parallel is made absolute by the fact that the treaty of 
Utrecht fixed the limit of the French possessions at that 
point, and when France yielded to Spain in 1762 all her 
possessions west of the Mississippi, Spain had constantly 
aflfirmed her title up to fifty-four forty. Subsequently she 
conveyed to France all her claim to the forty-ninth paral- 
lel and it was afterward conveyed to the United States 
by France. In 1814 a new commercial treaty was made 
between Great Britain and Spain, reaffirming the Nootka 
treaty, which was a virtual concession by Great Britain 
of the claim of Spain to fifty-four fort)^ Anything that 
Spain owned beyond this was ceded to the United States 
by the Florida treaty of 1819, which transferred all the 
Spanish possessions north of forty-two. 

These transactions left the question of boundary which 
followed the old Spanish claim to be settled by England, 
Russia and the United States, Russia's claim being based 
on the discoveries of Bering. Later Russia put forth a 



SAN JUAN. 103 

claim to all the northwest coast and islands north of lati- 
tude fifty-one. John Quincy Adams, then Secretary of 
State, denied that Russia had any claim south of fifty-five. 
Great Britain also protested. The American objections 
were emphasized in 1823 by the Monroe Doctrine, which 
provided that the American continents were not to be 
considered subjects of colonization by any European 
power. It was finally agreed that the United States 
should not make claims north of fifty-four forty, nor the 
Russians south of that line, A like agreement was made 
with Great Britain, and the two were to continue ten years, 
with the privilege of navigation and trade where they had 
previously existed. At the end of the stipulated decade 
Russia served notice on the other two governments of the 
discontinuance of British and American trade and navi- 
gation north of fifty-four forty. 

Russia had previously established two posts in Cali- 
fornia, the existence of which was an annoyance to Eng- 
land, and after various devices for ridding the lower coast 
of the unwelcome intrusion, Russia agreed, at the re- 
quest of the United States, to withdraw from California 
and relinquish all claim south of fifty-four forty. This 
removed Russia from the competition for Oregon, and left 
England and the United States to adjust the quarrel be- 
tween themselves. 

Among the claims made by Great Britain was that of 
the Columbia River, a claim based upon "original dis- 
covery." There were other "original" things connected 
with this subject besides the "discovery"; in fact, much 
more "original" than the discovery. 

Captain Robert Gray, of the American ship Columbia, 
found the river and gave it the name of his vessel. He 
afterward told Vancouver of the existence and location of 
the stream, whereupon Vancouver, with true British en- 



104 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

terprise, went to the point designated and proceeded to 
discover the river with scientific precision and phenome- 
nal keenness. It is possible that, to the obscure vision of 
an unenlightened world, such a "discovery" might not 
come strictly under the descriptive title of "original," 
but the English government promptly invested it with 
novelty by inventing a phase of "original discovery" 
henceforth to be known as " progressive." In the fine 
art of diplomatic verbiage England has always held the 
position of past master. 

From this time Oregon furnished a subject of con- 
tention for the statesmen of England and the United 
States. It lay like a smoldering fire, half darkened 
under its ashes until a little wind of excitement would 
blow suddenly against it and fan it into a vivid flame to 
burn brightly till the breeze shifted to some other 
quarter and the flame would sink again into a fitful 
slumber. 

It was claimed by the United States that the Oregon 
country between forty-two and fifty-four forty was part 
of the Louisiana cession made by Napoleon in 1803. 
England refusing to recognize this claim, the question re- 
mained unsettled until 1818, when a treaty of joint occu- 
pancy was agreed upon, and renewed in 1827. The con- 
ditions of this treaty were that there should be equality 
between the two nations in their occupancy of this terri- 
tory. It is unnecessary to state that the equality, if it 
ever existed, soon disappeared. There may come a time 
when the lion will lie down with the lamb on some other 
condition than the one predicted by a modern prophet, 
that the lamb will be inside of the lion, but the lion in the 
case will not be of that species known as the British lion. 

This situation, with all its discomforts, continued until 
the Presidential campaign of 1844, when the Democratic 



SAN JUAN. 105 

platform sent the war-cry of " fifty-four forty or fight," 
resounding throughout the land. 

This belligerent alternative was averted by the treaty 
of June 15, 1846, which drew the line of division south- 
ward in such a way as to give the whole of Vancouver's 
Island to the English and reserve to the United States the 
archipelago of which San Juan Island is a part. This 
concession was made by the United States to avoid cut- 
ting through Vancouver's and thus depriving the British 
of a part of the island. A few months later Great Britain 
manifested a desire to claim a line through Rosario Strait, 
near the continent, as the boundary, thus throwing all the 
islands of the Haro Archipelago within British juris- 
diction. This attempt was promptly met by Mr. Ban- 
croft, then minister to England, and for a time it was 
apparently abandoned. 

In January, 1848, Mr. Crampton, the British minister 
to the United States, submitted a proposition which in- 
volved the transference to Great Britain of all the islands 
in the Haro Archipelago. 

In 1852 the Territory of Oregon included the Haro 
Archipelago in one of its counties. After this the Hud- 
son's Bay Company, always the rival and enemy of the 
United States in the Northwest, established a post on San 
Juan. 

This company had for nearly two centuries been the 
obstacle in the way of peace and progress in the North- 
west. Prince Rupert and his seventeen capitalists had 
developed into a corporation as fiercely opposed to civi- 
lization as modern monopolies have proven themselves. 
The Hudson's Bay Company was the precursor in the 
New World of the oil monopoly, the harbinger of the 
sugar trust. Like them, it laid its heavy hand upon 
every enterprise that might benefit the race. The desert 



I06 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

that might have been developed into a flower-garden 
must be kept in its barrenness lest the bloom of the roses 
should attract some human interest beside the monstrous 
one of greed. The wilderness that might have given way 
to happy homes and golden fields of grain must be kept 
in its pristine stage of gloomy silence — not for the sake 
of the glory of its stately trees and the solemn grandeur 
of its mystic twilight aisles, nor for the melody of its 
birds and the grace and beauty of its wild-beast life. Not 
for any of these must nature forever reign queen of the 
North Pacific coast, but only that the steel trap of the 
hunter might never lack a victim, and the pockets of 
Prince Rupert's worthy descendants never go empty. 

Since the bird of unwisdom saved the queen city of the 
world, and two great nations fought a bloody war on ac- 
count of an old bucket, subjects usually regarded as trivial 
have been known to play important parts in the history 
of nations. The story of San Juan was enlivened by the 
festive gambols of a cheerful pig belonging to the Hud- 
son's Bay Company. This enterprising animal had a 
habit of pursuing his useful vocation of rooting, in a gar- 
den pertaining to Mr. Lyman A. Cutlar, an American 
occupant of the island. The relations of Mr. Cutlar to 
the invaded premises prevented his appreciating to their 
full worth the frugal virtues which in other circumstances 
might have won high respect. He remonstrated with the 
company to no effect and, taking the matter into his own 
hands, the unfortunate pig fell a victim, like many another 
innocent creature, to the strained political relations of the 
two rival nations. 

Having permanently removed the pig as an animated 
factor of dissension, Mr. Cutlar offered to pay twice the 
value of it by way of establishing amicable relations with 
its former owners. Pork had experienced a sudden rise 



SAN JUAN. 107 

in the British market, and the worth of this particular 
sample had risen into the realm of international ethics 
and was not to be computed in terms of filthy lucre. 
The next day the British steamer Beaver brought an 
officer ashore to arrest Cutlar and take him to Victoria 
for trial. Pointing his rifle at the officer, Cutlar replied 
that they might take him to Victoria, but they would have 
to kill him first. The officer, not feeling quite safe in 
precipitating a crisis just then, withdrew, and the porcine 
incident was diplomatically regarded as closed. 

When the northern part of Oregon was separated into 
a new Territory called Washington, the islands of the 
Archipelago were included in Whatcom County. In 1855 
the Hudson's Bay Company refused to pay the taxes as- 
sessed upon its property, and that property was adver- 
tised and sold to meet the demand. In the correspond- 
ence which ensued between the governors of Vancouver's 
Island and Washington Territory, the governor of Van- 
couver's asserted his instructions to regard the islands as 
a part of the British dominion. Crampton laid this corre- 
spondence before the State Department with a renf ;val of 
his proposition for a joint commission to determine the 
boundary-line, suggesting "the expediency of the adoption 
by both governments of the channel marked as the only 
known navigable channel by Vancouver as that desig- 
nated in the treaty." This meant to run the line through 
Vancouver's Strait and give up to Great Britain the Haro 
Archipelago. 

On the nth of August, 1856, an act was passed au- 
thorizing a commission to unite with similar officers ap- 
pointed by the British government, each commissioner 
being instructed as to the duties he was to perform. 
Archibald Campbell was appointed commissioner on the 
part of the United States, with John G. Parke, chief as- 



108 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

tronomer and surveyor; and Captain James G. Prevost, 
first commissioner for the British government, and Cap- 
tain Richards, chief astronomer and surveyor of the 
British commission, as second commissioner. 

On the 27th of June, 1857, the first official meeting of 
the joint commission was held. The British conmiander 
stated that he could do nothing until the arrival of Cap- 
tain Richards. Having waited until the close of Octo- 
ber, Captain Prevost decided to accept the coast -survey 
charts as accurate, and consented to adopt them for the 
determination of the boundary. On the 26th of October 
the commission met at Esquimalt Harbor, Vancouver's 
Island, with the understanding that they were invested 
with full powers. The discussion of the boundary ques- 
tion was had with this understanding on the part of the 
United States commissioner. 

As was to be expected, the commissioners failed to 
agree on the subject of a satisfactory boundary, it being 
somewhat difficult to interpret satisfactorily a treaty with 
some one who has in advance made up his mind, and 
openly declared his intention, as had the British com- 
missioners, to accept only that interpretation which will 
award to him the subject-matter of contention. A decision 
which shall in no way effect the claim of one of the parties 
to the dispute is scarcely worth the trouble of making. 

The United States claimed the Canal de Haro as the 
boundary, because it was the main channel south of the 
forty-ninth parallel leading into the Strait of Fuca, and 
it would secure the sole object for which the line was 
deflected south from the forty-ninth parallel, that is, to 
give the whole of Vancouver's Island to Great Britain. 

The British commissioner claimed Rosario Strait as 
the boundary, on the ground that it coincided with what 
he called "the very peculiar wording" of the treaty. He 



SAN JUAN. lOg 

assumed that the Rosario Strait answered to the require- 
ment of the language, "separates the continent from Van- 
couver's Island," whereas Canal de Haro merely "sepa- 
rates Vancouver's Island from the continent," an illustra- 
tion of the importance of linguistic purism in the science 
of diplomacy. As his nation had drawn up the treaty, 
and was therefore responsible for the peculiar wording, 
it was scarcely becoming in him to set forth that claim, 
in violation of the law of nations which provides that a 
difficulty of construction shall not be decided in favor of 
the nation creating the obscurity. 

Being unable to support his claim, he offered as a 
substitute a smaller channel which would include San 
Juan in the British possessions. The United States com- 
missioner refused to accept this compromise. The British 
commissioner had received rigid instructions, and had no 
power to accept any line that would not give San Juan to 
Great Britain. He said, "beyond what I now offer I 
can no further go." 

It was only reasonable to suppose that the nearest 
natural boundary which would avoid the necessity of 
cutting Vancouver's Island would be the one sought. 
This boundary was the Canal de Haro. In the communi- 
cation by Mr. McLane, who had been sent specially to 
Great Britain to aid in the negotiations, to Mr. Buchanan, 
then Secretary of State, he specifically mentions the ex- 
tension of the line by the Canal de Haro and the Strait 
of Fuca to the ocean, no reference being made to Rosario. 
He states that this proposition now made by Lord Aber- 
deen was suggested by his (Mr. McLane's) immediate 
predecessor as one which his government might accept. 
Again he refers to the modified extension of the line as 
being adapted to avoid the southern cape of Vancouver's 
Island. 



no PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Mr. Benton, in a speech in the Senate in favor of 
the treaty, mentioned the slight deflection of the line 
with the object of avoiding the cutting of the south 
end of Vancouver's Island. Again he spoke of the line 
through the Channel de Haro, and stated that it pre- 
served for the United States that cluster of islands be- 
tween the Channel de Haro and the continent. Even Mr. 
Crampton, the British minister, did not claim that Rosario 
was the channel meant, but thought that it must refer to 
Vancouver's Channel, erroneously supposing it to be the 
only one answering the description which had up to that 
time been surveyed and used. 

It is a noticeable fact that the Strait of Rosario did 
not appear upon any map, south of the forty-ninth paral- 
lel, until it was needed by the British government to cut 
off a piece of somebody else's land, when it was hastily 
moved southward and dated back to a period antedating 
the treaty. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SAN JUAN CONTINUED. 

In 1853 the Hudson's Bay Company sent an agent with 
a flock of sheep to take possession of San Juan Island, a 
very peaceable purpose to which to devote a territory sur- 
rounded by such warlike associations. As it turned out, 
however, not even the pastoral symphony of bleating 
lambs could infuse harmony into the situation. 

On the night of the 26th of July, in 1859, General 
Harney, commander of the Department of Oregon, 
stationed troops on the island. Captain Pickett and a 
command of sixty-eight men were silently transferred 
from the mainland and when the morning came were 
in possession of the disputed territory. As the bold 
Britons, one thousand nine hundred and forty strong, 
looked from their five ships of war coastward through the 
dawn and beheld this slight force, comfortable in the re- 
flection that they had a cannon for every interloper there 
except two, they must have experienced something of 
the prospective triumph which swelled the heart of the 
giant in sacred story as he hastened to meet the shepherd 
youth armed with but a helpless-looking sling and stone. 
Later in the game they had yet more reason to remember 
the experience of that famous champion, and draw dis- 
couraging parallels. 

To a proposition from the English commander for a 
joint military occupation of San Juan, Captain Pickett 
replied: 

" As a matter of course, I, being here under orders from 



112 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

my government, can not allow any joint occupation until 
so ordered by my commanding general." 

The English captain said, "I have one thousand men 
on board the ships ready to land to-night." 

"Captain, you have the force to land, but if you under- 
take it I will fight you as long as I have a man." 

"Very well," answered Hornby, "I shall land them at 
once." 

"If you will give me forty-eight hours," said Captain 
Pickett, "till I hear from my commanding officer, my 
orders may be countermanded. If you don't, you must 
be responsible for the bloodshed that will follow." 

"Not one minute," was the English captain's reply. 

Captain Pickett gave orders for the drawing up of his 
men in lines on the hill facing the beach, where the Eng- 
lish would have to land. 

" We will make a Bunker Hill of it, and don't be afraid 
of their big guns," said Pickett to his men. 

The following is an extract from the report of General 
Harney to General Scott: 

The senior ofl&cer of three British ships of war threatened to land 
an overpowering force upon Captain Pickett, who nobly replied that 
whether they landed fifty or five thousand men his conduct would not 
be affected by it; that he would open his fire, and, if compelled, take to 
the woods fighting; and so satisfied were the British officers that such 
would be his course, that they hesitated in putting their threat into 
execution. 

The following letter from General Harney to Captain 
Pickett defines at length his purpose in transferring troops 
to San Juan: 

Headquarters Department of Oregon, 

Fort Vancouver, W. T., July i8, 1859. 
Captain: By Special Orders No. 72, a copy of which is inclosed, 
you are directed to establish your company on Bellevue or San Juan 
Island, in some suitable position near the harbor at the southeastern 



SAN JUAN CONTINUED. 1 13 

extremity. The general commanding instructs me to say the object to 
be attained in placing you thus is twofold, viz. : 

First. To protect the inhabitants of the island from' the incursions 
of the northern Indians of British Columbia and the Russian posses- 
sions. You will not permit any force of these Indians to visit San Juan 
Island or the waters of Puget Sound in that vicinity over which the 
United States have any jurisdiction. Should these Indians appear 
peaceable you will warn them in a quiet but firm manner to return to 
their own country and not visit in future the territory of the United 
States; and in the event of any opposition being offered to your demands, 
you will use the most decisive measures to enforce them, to which end 
the commander of the troops stationed on the steamer Massachusetts will 
be instructed to render every assistance and co-operation that will be 
necessary to enable your command to fulfill the tenor of these in- 
structions. 

Second. Another serious and important duty will devolve upon you 
in the occupation of San Juan Island, arising from the American citizens 
and the Hudson's Bay Company establishment at that point. This duty 
is to afford adequate protection to the American citizens in their rights 
as such, and to resist all attempts at interference by the British authori- 
ties residing on Vancouver's Island, by intimidation or force, in the coi>- 
troversies of the above-mentioned parties. 

This protection has been called for in consequence of the chief fac- 
tor of the Hudson's Bay Company, Mr. Dallas, having recently visited 
San Juan Island with a British sloop of war, and threatened to take an 
American citizen by force to Victoria for trial by British laws. It is 
hoped a second attempt of this kind will not be made, but to ensure the 
safety of our citizens the general commanding directs you to meet the 
authorities from Victoria at once, on a second arrival, and inform them 
they can not be permitted to interfere with our citizens in any way. 
Any grievances they may allege as requiring redress can only be exam- 
ined under our own laws, to which they must submit their claims in 
proper form. 

The steamer Massachusetts will be directed to transport your com- 
mand, stores, etc., to San Juan Island, where you are authorized to 
construct such temporary shelter as the necessities of the service may 
demand. 

Any materials, such as doors, -window-sash, flooring, etc., that can 
be rendered available will be taken with you from Fort Bellingham. To 
secure to your command the vegetables of your garden, a small detach- 
ment will be left to gather them when grown. 



114 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The general commanding is fully satisfied, from the varied experi- 
ence and judgment displayed by you in your present command, that 
your selection to the duties with which you are now charged will ad- 
vance the interests of the service, and that your disposition of the sub- 
jects coming within your supervision and action will enhance your repu- 
tation as a commander. 

In your selection of a position, take into consideration that future 
contingencies may require an establishment of from four to six compa- 
nies retaining the command of the San Juan harbor. 

I am. Captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

A. Pleasanton, 
Captain Second Dragoons, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. 
Captain George Pickett, 

Commanding Company D, Ninth Infantry, 

Fort Bellingham, Puget Sound. 

The following correspondence between Captain Pick- 
ett and the military officers and the agent of the Hud- 
son's Bay Company will sufficiently indicate the existing 
situation upon the island: 

Military Camp, 
San Juan Island, W. T., July 30, 1859. 

My dear Colonel: I have the honor to inclose you some notes 
which passed this morning between the Hudson's Bay authorities 
and myself. From the threatening attitude of affairs at present, I 
deem it my duty to request that the Massachusetts may be sent at 
once to this point. I do not know that any actual collision will 
take place, but it is not comfortable to be lying within range of a 
couple of war-steamers. The Tribune, a thirty-gun frigate, is lying 
broadside to our camp, and from present indications everything leads 
me to suppose that they will attempt to prevent my carrying out my 
instructions. 

If you have any boats to spare I shall be happy to get one at least. 
The only whale-boat we had was, most unfortunately, staved on the day 
of our departure. 

, : We will be very much in want of some tools and camp equipage. I 
have not the time. Colonel, to make out the proper requisition, but if 



SAN JUAN CONTINUED. 1 1 5 

your quartermaster can send us some of these articles they will be of 
great service. 

I am, sir, in haste, very truly, your obedient servant, 

G. E. Pickett, 
Lieutenant-Colonel S. Casey, Captain Ninth Infantry. 

Ninth Infantry, Commanding Fort Steilacoom, W. T. 
P. S. — The Ghubrick has rendered us every assistance in her power, 
and I am much indebted for the kindness of ofi&cers. 

Bellevue Farm, San Juan, July 30, 1859. 
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the Island of San Juan, 
on which your camp is pitched, is the property and in the occupation of 
the Hudsor.'s Bay Company, and to request that you and the whole of 
the party v^ lo have landed from the American vessels will immediately 
cease to occupy the same. Should you be unwilling to comply with my 
request, I feel bound to apply to the civil authorities. 

Awaiting your reply I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 

Chas. Jno. Griffin, 
Captain Pickett, Agent Hudson's Bay Company. 

Commanding Company D, Ninth Infantry, 
Island of San Juan. 

Military Camp, 
San Juan, W. T. , July 30, 1859. 
Sir: Your communication of this instant has been received. I have 
to state in reply that I do not acknowledge the right of the Hudson's 
Bay Company o dictate my course of action. I am here by virtue of 
an order from my government, and shall remain till recalled by the same 
authority. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

George E. Pickett, 
Captain Ninth United States Infantry, Commanding. 
Mr. Charles J. Griffin, 

Agent Hudson's Bay Company, 

San Juan Island, W. T. 

Military Post, 
San Juan, W. T., August 3, 10 p.m. 
Captain: I have the honor to report the following circumstances: 
The British ships the Tribune, the Plumper, the Satellite are lying here 



Il6 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

in a menacing attitude. I have been -warned off by the Hudson's Bay 
agent; then a summons was sent to me to appear before a Mr. DeCour- 
cey, an oflficial of her Britannic Majesty. To-day I received the in- 
closed communications, and I also inclose my answer to same. 

I had to deal with three captains, and I thought it better to take the 
brunt of it. They have a force so much superior to mine that it will be 
merely a mouthful for them; still I have informed them that I am here 
by order of my commanding general, and will maintain my position if 
possible. 

They wish to have a conjoint occupation of the island; I decline 
anything of that kind. They can, if they choose, land at almost any 
point on the island, and I can not prevent them. I have used the utmost 
courtesy and delicacy in my intercourse and, if it is possible, please in- 
form me at such an early hour as t prevent a collision. The utmost I 
could expect to-day was to suspend any proceeding till they have time to 
digett a fill which I gave them. They wish to throw the onus on me, 
because I refuse to allow them to land an equal force, and each of us 
to have military occupation, thereby wiping out both civil authorities. 

I say I can not do so until I hear from the general. 

I have endeavored to impress them with the idea that my authority 
comes directly through you from Washington. 

The Pleiades left this morning for San Francisco with Colonel 
Hawkins. 

The excitement in Victoria and here is tremendous. I suppose 
some five hundred people have visited us. I have had to use a great 
deal of my feace-tnakinff disposition in order to restrain some of the 
sovereigns. 

Please excuse this hasty and, I am afraid, almost unintelligible letter, 
but the steamer is waiting, and I have been writing under the most un- 
favorable circumstances. I must add that they seem to doubt the au- 
thority of the general commanding, and do not wish to acknowledge his 
right to occupy this island, which they say is in dispute, unless the 
United States government has decided the question with Great Britain. 
I have so far staved them off by saying that the two governments have 
undoubtedly settled this affair, but this state of affairs can not last, 
and therefore I most respectfully ask that an express be sent me immedi- 
ately for my future guidance. I do not think there are any moments to 
waste. In order to maintain our dignity we must occupy in force, or al- 
low them to land an equal force, which they can do now, and possibly 
will do in spite of my diplomacy. 

I have the honor to inclose all the correspondence which has taken 



SAN JUAN CONTINUED. W] 

place. Hoping that my course of action will meet with the approval of 
the general commanding, and that I may hear from him in regard to my 
future course at once, I remain. Captain, your obedient servant, 

G. E. Pickett, 
Captain Ninth Infantry, Commanding Post. 
Captain A. Pleasanton, 

Mounted Dragoons, Adjutant-General, 

Department of Oregon, Fort Vancouver, W. T. 



Her Majesty's Ship Tribune, 
Griffin Bay, Island of San Juan, August 3, 1859. 
Sir: Having received instructions from his Excellency Governor 
Douglas to communicate with you in reference to the landing of the 
United States troops under your command on the island of San Juan, I 
have the honor to propose a meeting should take place between yourself 
and any other officers of the United States military forces on the one 
part, and captains of her Majesty's ships on the other (on board her 
Majesty's ship Tribune), at any hour that may be convenient to you, 
that we may, if possible, conclude such arrangements as will tend to 
preserve harmony between the subjects of the two states in this island. 
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 

Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, 
Captain Pickett, Captain. 

Commanding Detachment United States Troops, 
Island of San Juan. 



Military Post, 
San Juan, W. T., August 3, 1859. 
Sir: Your communication of this instant, favored by Lieutenant 
Dunlop, has been received. I have the honor to say, in reply, that I 
shall most cheerfully meet you, in my camp, at whatever hour you 
may choose to designate. Be assured that my wish corresponds with 
yours to preserve harmony between our respective governments. 
I remain, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

George E. Pickett, 
Captain Ninth United States Infantry, Commanding. 
Captain Phipps Hornby, 

Commanding her Britannic Majesty's ship Tribune, 
Harbor of San Juan, W. T. 



Il8 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Her Majesty's Ship Tribune, 
Griffin Bay, Island of San Juan, August 3, 1859. 
Sir: In reply to your letter of this morning, I have to inform you 
that I shall do mysel" the honor of calling on you at 2 p. m., in company 
with the captains of her Britannic Majesty's ships. 
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, 

G. Phipps Hornby, 
Captain Pickett, Captain. 

Commanding Detachment of United States Troops, 
Island of San Juan. 

Her Majesty's Ship Tribune, 

San Juan Island, August 3, 1859 

Sir: In accordance with your request for a written communication, 
I have the honor to transmit the substance of the declarations and propo- 
sitions made by me to you to-day. 

Having drawn your attention to the extract of a despatch from Mr. 
Marcy, Secretary of State, to his Excellency, Governor Stevens, dated 
July 14, 1855, prescribing the conduct that should be pursued by the 
officers of the United States in respect of the disputed grounds, I asked 
if that was the tenor of your present instructions, or if the relations of 
the two states had been placed on other than a friendly footing by any of 
a more recent date. 

To this you replied by referring to the date of the despatch. 

I then asked you, in the name of Governor Douglas, the terms on 
which you had occupied the island of San Juan; to which you replied 
that you did so by order of the "general commanding," to protect it 
as a part of the United States territory, and that you believed he acted 
under orders from the government at Washington. 

I then presented to you the Governor's protest against any such oc- 
cupation or claim. I represented to you that the fact of occupying a 
disputed island by a military force necessitated a similar action on our 
part; that again involved the imminent risk of a collision between the 
forces, there being a magistrate of each nation now acting on the island, 
either of whom might call on those of their country for aid. 

To prevent the chance of such collision, I suggested that a joint mili- 
tary occupation might take place, and continue until replies could be re- 
ceived from our respective governments; and, during such times, that the 
commanding officers of the forces should control and adjudicate between 
their respective countrymen, the magistrates being withdrawn on both 



SAN JUAN CONTINUED. 1 19 

^ides, or the action of their courts suspended for the time being, theit 
employment not being necessary under a joint military occupation. 

I suggested this course as apparently the only one left (short of en- 
tire evacuation by the troops under your command) likely to produce the 
object so much to be desired, viz., the prevention of a collision between 
the forces or authorities of the two countries, landed or in the harbor 
of San Juan, an event which must lead to still more disastrous results, 
by permanently estranging the friendly relations subsisting between 
Great Britain and the United States of America. 

You replied that you had not authority to conclude such terms, but 
suggested the reference of them to General Harney and Governor 
Douglas, without interference in any way with our liberty of action. 

I pointed out that my proposition was strictly in accordance with 
the principles laid down in Mr. Marcy's despatch, and that yours, on 
the other hand, offered no security against the occurrence of some im- 
mediate evil. 

That, as officers of the United States had committed an act of ag- 
gression by landing an armed force on this island pending the settle- 
ment of our respective claims to its sovereignty, without warning to us, 
and without giving to you a discretionary power of making any neces- 
sary arrangements, the United States and its officers alone must bo 
responsible for any consequences that might result, either immediate or 
future. 

I agreed to your request to furnish you with the substance of the 
conversation in writing, and concluded by informing you that, having 
now made what seemed to me a most equitable and simple proposition, 
I reserved to myself, in the event of your non-acceptance of it, entire 
liberty of action either for the protection of British subjects and prop- 
erty, or of our claims to the sovereignty of the island, until they are set- 
tled by the Northwestern Boundary Commission, now existing, or by 
the respective governments. 

I believe I have now given you the substance of our conversation, 
and have only to add my regret that you were not able to agree to a 
course which it appears to me would totally avoid the risk of a col- 
lision. 

The responsibility of any such catastrophe does not, I feel, rest on 
me or on her Majesty's representative at Vancouver's Island. 

I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 

Geoffrey Phipps Hornby, 
Captain George Pickett, Captain and Senior Officer. 

Commanding Detachment of United States Ninth Regiment. 



120 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Military Post, 
Island of San Juan, W. T., August 3, 11 p.m. 

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communi- 
cation of this date, in reference to the conversation which was held to- 
day between ourselves and Captains Prevost and Richards. Your recol- 
lection of said conversation seems to be very accurate. There is one 
point, however, which I dwelt upon particularly, and which I must en- 
deavor, as the officer representing my government, to impress upon you, 
viz. : That, as a matter of course, I, being here under orders from my 
government, can not allow any joint occupation until so ordered by my 
commanding general; and that any attempt to make any such occupation 
as you have proposed, before I can communicate with General Harney, 
will be bringing on a collision which can be avoided by awaiting this 
issue. I do not for one moment imagine that there will any difficulty 
occur on this island which will render a military interference necessary; 
and I therefore deem it proper to state that I think no discredit can re- 
flect upon us, or our respective flags, by remaining in our present posi- 
tions until we have an opportunity of hearing from those higher in 
authority. 

I hope, most sincerely, sir, you will reflect on this, and hope you 
coay coincide with me in my conclusion. Should you see fit to act 
Otherwise, you will then be the person who will bring on a most disas- 
trous difficulty, and not the United States officials. 

I have thus hurriedly answered your communication in order to 
avoid any delay and its consequences. 

I remain, with much respect, your obedient servant, 

George E. Pickett, 
Captain Ninth Infantry, Commanding Post, 
Captain G. Phipps Hornby, 

Commanding her Britannic Majesty's ship Tribune, 
Harbor of San Juan, Washington Territory. 



Headquarters Department of Oregon, 

Fort Vancouver, W. T., August 6, 1859. 
Captain: The general commanding instructs me to inform you of 
the receipt of Governor Douglas's protest to the occupation of San Juan 
Island, and directs me to inclose a communication, which you will re- 
quest Captain Hornby, of her Majesty's ship Tribune, to transmit to 
Governor Douglas with all convenient despatch. 

The general approves the course you have pursued, and further di- 



SAN JUAN CONTINUED. 121 

rects that no joint occupation or any civil jurisdiction will be permitted 
on San Juan Island by the British authorities under any circumstances. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Casey is ordered to reinforce you with his com- 
mand as soon as possible. 

Send Lieutenant Howard to Fort Steilacoom in arrest. 
I am, Captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

A. Pleasanton, 
Captain Second Dragoons, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. 
Captain George Pickett, 

Ninth Infantry.. Commanding on San Juan Island, 
Pugot Sound, W. T, 

In November Captain Pickett was ordered to Fort 
Bellingham, where he remained until April 10, when he 
was replaced in command at San Juan, of which order he 
was notified in the following: 

Headquarters Department of Oregon, 

Fort Vancouver, W. T., April i6, i860. 

Captain: You will perceive by Special Orders No. 41, of this date, 
a copy of which is inclosed, that the general commanding has replaced 
you in command of your company on San Juan Island. 

For your information in this position you will receive, as accom- 
panying papers, the correspondence and instructions of Lieutenant- 
General Scott with reference to San Juan Island, with an extract 
from the orders of Rear-Admiral Baynes, commanding her Britannic 
Majesty's naval forces in the Pacific, to Captain George Bazalgette, 
of the Royal Marines, commanding a tletachment of Royal Marines 
landed on San Juan Island by the consent of General Scott. These 
orders of Admiral Baynes communicrte to his officer that he is placed 
on the island for the protection of British interests, and to form a joint 
military occupation with the troops of the United States. 

To meet these orders of the admiral, and to remove any miscon- 
ception on the part of the British authorities as to your duties, I am 
directed to impart to you the following explanations and requirements 
of the general commanding, a copy of which you will furnish Captain 
Bazalgette for the information of Rear-Admiral Baynes: 

First. Lieutenant-General Scott has left no orders or instructions 
with the general commanding to grant a joint military occupation of 



122 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

San Juan Island with British troops; neither has any authority been 
delegated by the government of the United States to the general to offer 
or accept such occupation of that island. The offer made by General 
Scott, when in command here, was not accepted by Governor Douglas 
at the time, and consequently concluded that transaction. No arrange- 
ment has been made since to renew it, within the knowledge of the 
general commanding. 

Seco?id. The British authorities having submitted the assurance to 
General Scott that no attempt would be made by them to dislodge by 
force the United States troops on San Juan Island, they were per- 
mitted to land troops for similar purposes to which your command was 
designed in the original orders conveyed to you in July last, viz., the 
protection of our citizens from Indians both native and foreign. In 
connection with this service, the general commanding takes occasion to 
present you to Admiral Baynes and the officers with whom you will be 
brought in contact, as an officer possessing his highest confidence, and 
nothing will be omitted in maintaining a frank and generous intercourse 
in all matters coming within your powers to establish a practical solu- 
tion of the present misunderstanding, which shall prove honorable and 
satisfactory to all parties, until a final settlement is attained by the gov- 
ernments. 

Third. Under the organic act of the Congress of the United 
States for the establishment of the Territorial government of Washing- 
ton, the first legislative assembly in 1854 passed an act including the 
island of San Juan as a part of Whatcom County. This act was duly 
submitted to Congress, and has not been disapproved; it is, therefore, 
the law of the land. You will be obliged, consequently, to acknowl- 
edge and respect the civil jurisdiction of Washington Territory in the 
discharge of your duties on San Juan, and the general commanding 
is satisfied that any attempt of the British commander to ignore this 
right of the Territory will be followed by deplorable results, out of his 
power to prevent or to control. The general commanding will inform 
the Governor of Washington Territory that you are directed to communi- 
cate with the civil officer on the island in the investigation of all cases 
requiring his attention. In the event of any British interests being in- 
volved, you will notify the officer placed there by Admiral Baynes to 
enable him to propose some arrangement satisfactory to his instructions, 
as well as those of the civil officer. Let it be understood in case of dis- 
agreement of these parties that no action is to be taken until the case 
has been referred to Admiral Baynes and the Governor of Washington 
Territory, respectively. 



SAN JUAN CONTINUED. 1 23 

These suggestions will be acceptable to the conditions which govern 
the Territorial authorities of Washington, while satisfying the obliga- 
tions of the military service to their own as well as the civil laws of the 
country, and it is fair to presume they will be adopted by Admiral 
Baynes, since the tenor of his instructions to Captain Bazalgette is 
sufficiently liberal to justify this conclusion. 

I remain, Captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

A. Pleasanton, 
Captain Second Dragoons, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. 
Captain George E. Pickett, 

Commanding Company D, Ninth Infantry, 

Fort Bellingham, Puget Sound, W. T. 



Camp Pickett, San Juan, April 30, i860. 

Sir: I have the honor to inform you that, in obedience to orders 
received from the Headquarters of Department of Oregon, I have to-day 
relieved Captain Hunt, and assumed command of this post. 

In accordance with orders emanating from the same source, I here- 
with inclose an extract from my letter of instructions. 

With every desire that the cordial understanding existing between 
you and Captain Hunt shall continue to be maintained between our- 
selves, I am, sir, your most humble servant, 

G. E. Pickett, 

Captain Ninth Infantry, Commanding Post. 
Captain G. Bazalgette, 

Royal Marines, her British Majesty's Troops. 

From this time until the State of Virginia was forced 
into the ranks of secession, carrying her noblest sons 
with her, Captain Pickett remained on the island of San 
Juan. Then he resigned his commission, and, narrowly 
escaping arrest, hastened South to cast in his fortunes 
with the struggling new dream nation. 

The military leaders on the Pacific coast had an ul- 
terior purpose, hidden from the world but lying close to 
the hearts of them all, of far greater magnitude than the 
mere saving of a fragment of earth. They had seen the 
" little cloud, no bigger than a man's hand," drifting along 



124 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

the southern horizon, and had read its threatening im- 
port. They knew that within it were hidden the thun- 
ders and lightnings of war, and they dreaded the moment 
when the storm should break over the land. To avert 
this disaster they were ready to risk their lives at the 
mouths of British guns. 

The elements of discord that had lain at the heart of 
all our national history since the adoption of the Consti- 
tution and the division of parties into Federalists and 
Republicans had at last reached the point where an 
outbreak could be avoided only by a foreign war which 
would unite all parts of the country into one grand whole 
for the purpose of national defense. If a war with Eng- 
land could be precipitated the danger of civil faction 
would be over. All hearts would respond at once to the 
call of the nation for help. The first British gun that 
should launch its thunder against the Pacific coast would 
echo and re-echo across a continent and send its rever- 
berations to the remotest limits, North, South, East and 
West. The spirit of patriotism would awaken and the 
star-spangled banner would float once more over a united 
nation. The little waves of sectional strife that looked so 
stormy now would sink into the great sea of patriotic en- 
thusiasm that would roll in majestic grandeur from the 
farthest snow-line of Minnesota to the sunny orange- 
groves of Florida, from the islands that bathe themselves 
in the far-off Atlantic waves to the Golden Gate that opens 
the way to the pearl-caves of the Pacific. 

To this end Captain Pickett, who had won his commis- 
sion by gallant service under the old flag, would gladly 
have given his life. Like many others who afterward 
fought as bravely against the national government as they 
had in happier times fought for it, he loved the Union. 
Every star in that flag which he had so often borne to 



SAN JUA/Y CONTINUED. 12$ 

victory shone upon his heart with the radiance of love 
and hope. The white of its fluttering folds was like the 
purity of heaven toward which his soul ever aspired; the 
red was as the wine of life that surged through his veins. 
It is difficult for the reader to appreciate fully, from 
this account, the great responsibility resting upon Captain 
Pickett in his position on San Juan. Upon his firmness 
and courage hung the honor of his country; upon his 
coolness and discretion depended the lives of untold 
thousands, with millions of treasure. In early manhood 
he measured up to the occasion and gave true prophecy 
of what he would afterward accomplish. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Pickett's west point appointment and military 
service in united states army. 

George E. Pickett was appointed to West Point through 
the political power and friendship of Mr. Abraham Lin- 
coln, by Congressman John G. Stuart, of the Third Illinois 
District. Mr. Lincoln was then associated in the practice 
of law with Pickett's uncle, Mr. Andrew Johnston (not 
Andy Johnson), who was later of the firm of Johnston, 
Williams & Boulware, of Richmond, Virginia, and was one 
of the most successful, prominent and wealthy lawyers of 
that city. 

Mr. Johnston was a great scholar and was highly 
esteemed by President Lincoln, who desired him to be- 
come Governor of Virginia and guide her in her return to 
the Union. 

Naturally, the great lawyer was desirous that his 
nephew should follow in his own footsteps, and become a 
power in the legal world, but a military bent of mind was 
hereditary in the Pickett family, and manifest destiny was 
not to be thwarted. It so happened, too, that just at this 
time Pickett's martial ardor was stimulated by the ap- 
pointment to West Point of his cousins, Heth, Duke and 
Morgan, and several of his schoolfellows. 

Mr. Lincoln was very fond of George Pickett, and when 
Pickett confided to him his military aspirations, he se- 
cretly determined they should be gratified, and went at 
once systematically to work to secure his appointment. 

From Washington, the great statesman wrote his young 
friend a letter, from which the following is an extract: 

126 



SERVICE IN UNITED STATES ARMY. 12/ 

I never encourage deceit, and falsehood, especially if you have got a 
bad memory, is the -worst enemy a fellow can have. The fact is truth 
is your truest friend, no matter what the circumstances are. Notwith- 
standing this copy-book preamble, my boy, I am inclined to suggest a 
little prudence on your part. You see I have a congenital aversion to 
failure, and the sudden announcement to your Uncle Andrew of the suc- 
cess of your "lamp-rubbing" might possibly prevent your passing the 
severe //zjyszVa/ examination to which you will be subjected in order to 
enter the Military Academy. You see, I should like to have a perfect 
soldier credited to dear old Illinois — no broken bones, scalp wounds, etc. 
So I think perhaps it might be wise to hand this letter from me, in to 
your good uncle through his room-window after he has had a comfort' 
able dinner, and watch its effect from the top of the pigeon-house. 

In one of the letters which the young cadet received 
from Mr. Lincoln soon after entering West Point is the 
following passage: 

I have just told the folks here in Springfield on this iiith anniver- 
sary of the birth of him whose name, mightiest in the cause of civil lib- 
erty, still mightiest in the cause of moral reformation, we mention in 
solemn awe, in naked, deathless splendor, that the one victory we can 
ever call complete will be that one which proclaims that there is not 
one slave or one drunkard on the face of God's green earth. Recruit 
for this victory. 

At the close of the letter he said: 

Now, boy, on your march, don't you go and forget the old maxim 
that "one drop of honey catches more flies than a half-gallon of gall." 
Load your musket with this maxim, and smoke it in your pipe. 

Pickett remembered, for there was not a drop of gall 
in his whole life. 

Short as was Mr, Lincoln's time when he passed through 
Richmond after its surrender, he came to the old Pickett 
home to hunt up his friend and former partner, the Gen- 
eral's uncle. He asked about the General himself, and 



528 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

then for the General's wife. I had seen the carriage and 
the guard and retinue, but did not know who the visitors 
were. In those suspicious times of trouble and anxiety 
we did not wait for formal announcements, and we were 
following on after the servant who went to answer the 
bell. When I heard the caller ask for George Pickett's 
wife, I came forward with my baby in my arms. 
" I am George Pickett's wife," I said. 
"And I am Abraham Lincoln." 
"The President?" 

"No; Abraham Lincoln, George's old friend." 
Seeing baby's outstretched arms, Mr. Lincoln took 
bim, and little George opened wide his mouth and gave 
his father's friend a dewy baby kiss, seeming to feel with 
the prescient infant instinct the tie that binds. As I took 
my baby back again, Mr. Lincoln said in that deep and 
sympathetic voice which was one of his greatest powers 
over the hearts of men: 

"Tell your father, the rascal, that I forgive him for the 
sake of your mother's smile and your bright eyes." 

I had sometimes wondered at the General's reverential 
way of speaking of President Lincoln, but as I looked up 
at his honest, earnest face, and felt the warm clasp of his 
great, strong hand, I marveled no more that all who knew 
him should love him. When, but a few days later, the 
wires flashed over the world the tragic message which en- 
veloped our whole nation in mourning, General Pickett 
said: 

"My God! My God! The South has lost her best 
friend and protector, the surest, safest hand to guide and 
steer her through the breakers ahead. Again must she 
feel the smart of fanaticism." 

The following is the official statement of Pickett's 
military services: 



SERVICE IN UNITED STATES ARMY. 1 29 

War Department, 

Adjutant-General's Office, 

Washington, March 10, 1887. 

Statement of the military service of George E. Pickett, late of the 
United States Army, compiled from the records of this office: 

He was a cadet at the United States Military Academy from July i, 
1842, to July I, 1846, when graduated and appointed brevet second 
lieutenant Eighth Infantry; promoted second lieutenant Second Infantry 
March 3, 1847; transferred to Seventh Infantry July 13, 1847, and to 
the Eighth Infantry July 18, 1847; first lieutenant June 28, 1849; ap- 
pointed captain Ninth Infantry March 3, 1855. 

Brevetted first lieutenant August 20, 1847, "for gallant and meri- 
torious conduct in the battles of Contreras, and Churubusco, Mexico "; 
and captain September 13, 1847, "for gallant and meritorious conduct at 
Chapultepec, Mexico." 

He joined his regiment in Mexico, November, 1846, and served 
therewith in the war with that country (being engaged in the siege of 
Vera Cruz, March, 1847; battle of Cerro Gordo, April 17 and 18, 1847; 
capture of San Antonio, August 20, 1847; battle of Molino del Rey, Sep- 
tember 8, 1847; storming of Chapultepec, September 13, 1847; and as- 
sault and capture of the City of Mexico, September 13 and 14, 1847) to 
July, 1848. En route to and at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., to November 
23, 1848; on leave to June 19, 1849; with regiment in Texas to Decem- 
ber 22, 1850; on leave to July 10, 1851; with regiment in Texas to De- 
cember 13, 1851; on leave to May 4, 1852; and with his regiment in 
Texas to June, 1855. He joined the Ninth Infantry September 20, 
1855, and served with it at Fort Monroe, Va., to November 14, 1855; 
on court-martial duty in Florida to March 20, 1856; rejoined and served 
with his company in Washington Territory to June 6, 1858; on leave to 
January 14, 1859; commanding company at Fort Bellingham, W. T., to 
July 27, 1859; at San Juan Island, W. T., to October, 1859; at Fort 
Bellingham to April 28, i860; and at San Juan Island to June 25, 1861, 
when he resigned. ^ ^ Greene, 

Assistant Adjutant-General. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

SLAVERY. 

The commercial greed of England anchored the negro 
race upon America against the earnest protests of the 
colonists. 

In 1620, when a Dutch vessel landed twenty slaves at 
Jamestown, the enlightened sense of Virginia quickly 
took alarm, and laws against the wicked traffic were 
promptly passed. For more than a century Virginia 
fought most valiantly against the wrong which she fore- 
saw would work irreparable injury, not only to the South, 
but to the whole country. 

In 1770 the King commanded the Governor "under 
pain of highest displeasure to assent to no law by which 
the importation of slaves should be in any respect prohib- 
ited or obstructed." Two years later, after a prolonged 
and earnest debate, the Assembly of Virginia submitted 
to the King a memorial setting forth the inhumanity of 
the trade, and its exceeding great danger to the existence 
of his American dominions, and praying that the interests 
of the British dealers who would be financially benefited 
by the criminal traffic might not be permitted to take 
precedence of the welfare of the entire colonies. As 
England has never been known to hold any colony with 
the smallest reference to the benefit of its inhabitants, 
the petition was of course unavailing. Thus was forced 
upon Virginia a gigantic evil which she bravely supported 
for generations, and the wrongs of which she did all in 
her power to ameliorate. 

130 



SLAVERY. 131 

In the winter of 1735-36 Oglethorpe returned to 
Georgia from England, carrying two acts of Parliament, 
which, in the absence of testimony to the contrary, indi- 
cate that their bearer must have been the champion opti- 
mist of his generation. One of these Parliamentary 
decrees prohibited the sale of spirituous liquors, the 
other forbade the holding of slaves. The principal result 
of this moral effort was a frame of mind in the com- 
munity succinctly set forth in the following dedication 
of a remonstrative pamphlet to the Parkhurst of the 
period: 

The valuable Virtue of Humility is secured to us by your Care to 
prevent our procuring, or so much as seeing, any Negroes (the only 
human Creatures proper to improve our Soil) lest our simplicity 
might mistake the poor Africans for greater slaves than ourselves: 
And that we might fully receive the Spiritual Benefit of those whole- 
some Austerities, you have wisely denied us the Use of such Spirituous 
Liquors as might in the least divert our minds from the Contemplation 
of our Happy Circumstances. 

This soulful tribute to the lofty philanthropy of the 
pioneer reformer would seem to signify that the primitive 
Georgian was not above the vice of sarcasm, and appears 
to have had a demoralizing influence upon the purifier of 
colonial politics, as a little later in history we find him 
in the character of a Carolina slaveholder, applying the 
profits of his new career of usefulness to the support of 
his Georgia orphan asylum, piously thanking God that 
his investment was profitable, and finding fault with the 
tyrannical law which obliged him to have his slaves and 
his orphans on different sides of the dividing line. 
Whether he sought consolation for his misfortune in 
Manhattan cocktails or 'arf-an'-'arf, is not recorded. 
Through the charitable efforts of this severe moralist, 
slavery was fastened upon Georgia, and there was fur- 



132 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

nished an early illustration of the modern definition of 
vice as "a virtue gone to seed." 

Many of the English sovereigns invested in slave- 
ships, and in 1776 slavery existed in all thirteen States. 
A regular traffic was carried on between New England 
and Africa. Virginia fought this revolting trade in the 
Federal Convention, but New England voted with South 
Carolina and Georgia that for another twenty years this 
terrible crime should blot our escutcheon. 

Still the Southern leaders fought, and in 1790 the Con- 
gress of the United States declared that it possessed " no 
power to interfere with slavery or the treatment of slaves 
within the States." 

In the meantime the Northern States had discovered 
that it was not so lucrative to hold slaves in a rigorous cli- 
mate as it was to catch them on the African coast and sell 
them into conditions more favorable to the tropical consti- 
tution and to the production of those crops to the man- 
agement of which the African intelligence was best 
adapted. Consequently the North was seized upon by a 
severe spasm of virtue which demanded that she should, 
for value received, transfer her human possessions to the 
South, after the manner of the enthusiastic young convert 
who announced in prayer-meeting that her eyes had been 
graciously opened to see that her feathers and ribbons 
and laces were carrying her straight down to hell, so she 
pulled them all off and gave them to her sister. 

In 1820, when Missouri was admitted into the Union, 
the first halt was effected. The East was greatly opposed 
to the extension of the Union toward the southwest, and 
carried out its resolution that slavery should not be rec- 
ognized as legal in the Territories north of the parallel 
30° 30'. 

Patrick Henry, Marshall, Jefferson, Henry Clay, and 



SLAVERY. 133 

John Quincy Adams, all recognized the great evil and 
fought for the remedy. 

In 1829 Henry Clay said: "If I were to invoke the 
greatest blessing on earth which heaven, in its mercy, 
could now bestow on this nation, it would be the sepa- 
ration of the two most numerous races of its population, 
and their comfortable establishment in distant and differ- 
ent countries." 

Notwithstanding this, the House, in 1836, reaffirmed 
the declaration of 1790. 

Thus, despite her protests, the blight of slavery was 
fixed upon the South, and all her industries were para- 
lyzed by the heavy hand of unskilled labor. The earth 
teemed with agricultural possibilities which never de- 
veloped into realities. The soil was wholly given over to 
the production of those crops which could be tilled and 
harvested with the least effort of intelligence. Great 
stores of mineral wealth lay sleeping in their subterranean 
beds, waiting through the generations for the morning 
dawn to awaken them. 

The Southern planter and his family subsisted on food 
procured from Northern markets. They were garbed in 
raiment woven in Northern or European factories. No 
Southern steamers rode triumphantly out from Southern 
harbors, laden with the fruits of Southern soil and South- 
ern skill. Southern productions were shipped by North- 
ern dealers from Northern ports in Northern vessels, and 
in return the South received supplies through the North, 
ornamented with a Northern tariff. From the cradle to 
the grave the dweller in the South was an animated ad- 
vertisement of the disadvantages of an obsolete Oriental 
system of labor grafted on to the most recent form of 
modern Occidental civilization. 

The political disasters resulting from the enforced con- 



134 PICKETT AND HIS MEN: 

dition were no less than its economic disadvantages. A 
system which a few generations earlier had been regarded 
in the North as a mere economic blunder gradually came 
to be viewed as a crime. The North had rid herself 
of the burden of slavery, why could not the South? The 
North had freed herself by the simple and easy process 
of unloading upon the South. There was no remoter 
South to serve its turn in the descending scale, unless it 
were the Gulf of Mexico, against which, laying aside 
the matter of expense, certain considerations of humanity 
might obtain. 

The system became a component part of the life of the 
South. To separate it from that life was like taking a vital 
part from a highly evolved organism and expecting its func- 
tions to continue. Laying aside the financial difificulties 
of getting rid of slavery, there still remained the one great 
problem, what could we do with the slave if he should 
become politically free? He could not be morally and 
economically free, because his nature and training had 
not fitted him for liberty. 

The political and social dangers of any form of eman- 
cipation were considered to outweigh the economic dis- 
advantages of the existing condition, and for years the 
war of contending political parties went on with a degree 
of acrimony probably never before equaled in political 
discussion between the different parts of the same coun- 
try. It passed through all the stages of fugitive-slave 
lavv^s, Dred Scott decision, Kansas-Nebraska bill, abolition 
v/arfare, underground railways, and reached the acute 
phase of the slavery and free-soil war in "bleeding 
Kansas." 

From the smoke of that conflict, like a genie from 
a malignantly enchanted box in "Arabian Nights," arose 
the most striking figure of the long and bitter strife 



SLAVERY. 135 

between freedom and slavery — John Brown of Osawat- 
omie, variously regarded, according to the viewpoint of 
the beholder, as all the v/ay from a holy prophet adorned 
with the mystic halo, sent by a divine power to herald 
the dawn of a new civilization, to a vicious ruffian and 
criminal, actuated by designs of the most evil character. 
Probably he was only the victim of an acute degree of 
fanaticism, such as occasions of great excitement are 
likely to produce. From long dwelling upon one idea 
he had become a monomaniac, in whose eyes all objects 
took the coloring of his own imaginings. 

Being a lineal descendant of the Puritan Pilgrims, he 
set about his self-appointed task with the grim determina- 
tion which inspired his forefathers in their crusade against 
witchcraft and their Christian efforts for the reformation 
of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson. 

A complete stranger to the life of the South, he had 
become imbued with the delusion, then prevalent in the 
North, that the slaves were a grievously oppressed and 
suffering race, constantly under an agonizing sense of theii 
wrongs, and ready to seize upon every suggestion of an 
opportunity of avenging them. 

The personal devotion which afterward led many of 
the slaves to risk their lives for the safety and support of 
their masters' families and to forego their own freedom 
for the sake of those whom they rightly regarded as their 
best friends, was something entirely outside of the ex- 
perience or observation of this erratic mind which had 
been perverted from all sense of reason or justice by ex- 
clusive devotion to one erroneous idea. 

Having secured money and arms through a secret com- 
mittee in Boston, composed of Dr. Samuel G, Howe, 
Frank B. Sanborn, George L. Stearns and T. Wentworth 
Higginson, Brown prepared to strike the blow in May 



136 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

of 1858. He was betrayed by Forbes, an English adven- 
turer, who had joined in the project and who, being dis- 
appointed in his effort to depose Brown and usurp his 
place, took this method of avenging himself. For this 
reason action was postponed to the following year. 

In the autumn of 1859 John Brown assembled together 
eighteen other minds almost as warped as his own, and 
made his disastrous descent upon Harper's Ferry, falling 
into the hands of Colonel Robert E. Lee and his detach- 
ment of United States marines, and met the fate that is 
most likely to befall a man who mistakes both himself 
and the era in which he lives. 

The singular qualities of this most morbidly erratic 
character in the whole dark history of slavery agitation 
are thus set forth by Governor Wise, of Virginia, who vis- 
ited him in the guard-house: 

"They are mistaken who take him for a madman. He 
is a man of clear head, courageous fortitude, and simple 
ingenuousness. He is cool, collected, and indomitable; 
and it is but just to him to say that he was humane to his 
prisoners; and he inspired all with great trust in his in- 
tegrity and as a man of truth. He is a fanatic, vain and 
garrulous, but firm, truthful, and intelligent." 

On the 2d of December, 1859, the name of John Brown 
was added to the roll of martyrs on one side of the divid- 
ing line, and to the list of defeated criminals on the other, 
and it would have been lost in the dust which time throws 
upon the name and fame of all ill-guided enthusiasts, had 
not the rapid succession of startling events immediately 
subsequent to this period kept "his soul marching on." 
Though these things all happened but one year be- 
fore South Carolina formally seceded from the Union, 
Wendell Phillips said over the coffin of the fallen fanatic: 
"I do not believe slavery will go down in blood." 



SLAVERY. 137 

In how short a time did that long-contested institution 
go down in blood, and from its ruins arose a new South to 
give the world impressive lessons in the eternal persist- 
ence of vital force. 

Never before in the history of the world did any peo- 
ple pluck from defeat so glorious a victory. The blow 
which struck the South to earth severed her shackles and 
set her free. 

In the past decade the wealth of the South has in- 
creased nearly four billions, far exceeding the property 
value of the slaves set free by the war. The increase is 
becoming still greater as the years pass on. 

One-fourth of all the spindles in the country belong 
to the Southern States, and the South can now consume 
one-tenth of all the product of her cotton-fields. 

Her iron area is seven hundred miles in length, and 
two hundred in width, paralleled by belts of limestone and 
coal. English producers can not compete with the prices 
Alabama is now furnishing. 

From the whispering foliage of her majestic forests 
floats over all her broad land a message of prosperity, 
of wealth, of commercial greatness. 

Over the fields where once grew only cotton, rice, to- 
bacco, and sugar, now waves the golden-tasseled corn, in 
happy prophecy of the harvest of gold which the autumn 
will bring. 

The Southland, once dependent upon her Northern 
sister for the merest necessities of life, now subsists upon 
her own never-failing resources, and her intense vitality 
and rapid progress prove that her children are worthy 
of the glorious heritage which has been bestowed upon 
them. 

In the measuring of the "grist" which "the mills of 
the gods" have ground, the Fifteenth Amendment has 



138 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

not proved an unmitigated evil. It has imposed upon 
the South a political burden she was little able to bear, 
but it has also given her a political strength which she 
would not otherwise have enjoyed. Though it has 
wrought injury to its unfortunate victim, who was help- 
lessly and unconsciously legislated into duties for which 
he was not fitted and responsibilities of which he had not 
the faintest conception, retarding his progress and lead- 
ing him to depend upon politics instead of individual 
effort, it has increased Southern representation in Con- 
gress and given the South a legislative power which she 
never before exerted. It has created race prejudice 
where it did not before exist, but its worst effects will 
melt away in the sunlight of the prosperity which has 
dawned so gloriously for the summer-land. 

Thus, the dark shadow lifted from her pathway, the 
South moves forward on her heaven-lit course to her 
brilliant destiny. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

SECESSION. 

The victims of a lost cause are not alone those who 
go down in its wreck. Perhaps its saddest victims are its 
precursors — those who have marked out the pathway to 
the field on which the great battle is to be fought and 
lost. 

Thus it was with many who led the way to the final 
adjustment of the long-disputed question of States' 
rights, a quarrel which had begun away back in the 
beginning of constitutional history. When Hamilton 
and Jefferson separated on the question of centralization 
of power, they laid out a long and circuitous route to a 
tragic ending of the dispute which began with the failure 
of the Articles of Confederation and led up to the dra- 
matic exit of the Southern members from the halls of 
Congress, more than half a century later 

Article II. in the "Articles of Confederation" stipu- 
lated that, "Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom 
and independence." 

Article III. specified that, "The said States hereby 
severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each 
other." 

The great advocate of Federalism, Alexander Hamil- 
ton, was among the first to appreciate the advantage which 
the State government possessed in the affections of the 
people. He perceived that in a clash of State with 
national interests, the State interests would receive the 
support of the people. 

139 



140 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Under the Articles of Confederation the States had 
shown more disposition to take back the powers which 
had been delegated to the general government than to 
give up any that might remain. 

The State was the mother of the people; the general 
government was an unsympathetic, overbearing master. 
The bond between the State and the individual had 
become a fixed habit of affection. To rend the State 
government would be the act of a matricide; it would 
even be self-destruction. Should the general government 
fall to pieces in some sudden political earthquake life 
would, according to the popular view, go on much the 
same as it had always done. 

In certain large affairs of life the people looked to the 
national government — in the small things of every-day 
existence they looked to the State. The small things are 
what make up life. Large events occur once or twice in 
a lifetime; small ones happen every day. 

The people paid taxes to the State; in return therefor 
they shared in the institutions which were supported by 
those taxes. They constructed and repaired roads for the 
State; they walked and drove over those roads. They 
supported schools for the State; their children reaped the 
advantages of those schools. They elected the law- 
makers of the State; they looked to the State laws for 
protection. The State officers were their fellow-citizens, 
some of them near and dear friends. In them they felt 
a much stronger personal interest than in the President 
and Cabinet, too far away to seem to hold any connection 
with the mass of the people. 

One of the delegates to the Federal Convention had 
expressed his opinion that the people would be rather 
more attached to the national government, as being more 
important in itself, and more flattering to their pride. 



SECESSION. 141 

Hamilton, stern old Federalist though he was, and some- 
what cold, as he was regarded, yet recognized the fact 
that with the mass of the people State feeling is likely 
to outrank national pride. Even the selfish passions, 
avarice, ambition, interest, he felt, would flow with the 
stream of State power. So great was his apprehension of 
the power of the State over the popular mind that he was 
almost hopeless of uniting such varied and inharmonious 
interests into one republic of States. He felt apprehen- 
sive that only the British form of government would hold 
together the diverse sentiments in America. 

Had public opinion permitted Hamilton to extinguish 
the State governments in setting up the national govern- 
ment founded upon the Constitution, which owes its ex- 
istence, perhaps, more to him than any one else, there 
would have been no question of States' rights to develop 
into the discordant element which it became in a few 
years after the adoption of the Constitution. As things 
remained, the States adopted the Constitution, but the 
people continued true to the old State governments to 
which they were accustomed. 

In 1783, after peace was established, the States from 
time to time began to grow jealous of the powers of each 
other, and in 1789 the Federal government acted upon a 
basis of secession from the Articles of Confederation of 
1781. Virginia emphatically reserved the right to with- 
draw from the compact if she found it against her interest 
to remain in it, as did the ten other States. 

The Constitution held each State to be self-governing. 
This construction held until 1798, when the alien and sedi- 
tion laws were passed. Kentucky and Virginia denounced 
these laws as contrary to the Constitution, which was a 
compact between the States. The celebrated Virginia 
and Kentucky resolutions followed, declaring that when 



142 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Congress passed acts beyond its constitutional powers 
the States were not bound to obey, and, what was of far 
more moment, that each State had the right to determine 
the question of constitutionality. 

These resolutions possessed the greater power by rea- 
son of their authorship. That of Virginia was drawn up 
by Madison, one of the immortal three to whom the 
nation was indebted for its Constitution, and who might 
be supposed to know, if any man could, what that Consti- 
tution meant. The Kentucky resolution was prepared by 
Jefferson, then Vice-President, who may fairly be ranked 
as the founder of the doctrine of States' rights. 

In the original draft Jefferson had written: "Where 
powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a 
nullification of the act is the rightful remedy; every State 
has a natural right, in cases not within the compact, to 
nullify, of their own authority, all assumptions of power 
by others within their limits." Though this passage was 
omitted from the resolutions of 1798, it was in substance 
restored the next year. 

In 1803 Napoleon said, regarding the proposed sale of 
Louisiana to the United States: "Perhaps it may be 
objected that the Americans will be found too powerful 
for Europe in two or three centuries, but my foresight 
does not embrace such remote feats. Besides, we may 
hereafter expect rivalries among the members of the 
Union. The confederations which are called perpetual 
only last till one of the contracting parties finds it to his 
interest to break them." 

The prophecy of this astute political reasoner was 
justified in iSil when Louisiana sought to enter the 
Union. Among the violent opposers of this movement 
was Josiah Quincy, of Massachusetts, who, on the floor of 
Congress, declared: 



SECESSION'. 143 

" If this bill passes it is my deliberate opinion that it is 
virtually a dissolution of this Union; that it will free the 
States from their moral obligation; and, as it will be the 
right of all, so it will be the duty of some, definitely to 
prepare for a separation, amicably if they can, violently if 
they must," 

As a result of the Embargo Act, in 1809, Massachusetts 
called a convention of the maritime States to form a 
union against the Federal government, a movement which 
was prevented by the repeal of the obnoxious act. 

In 1812, when the United States was presenting to the 
world the novel and striking spectacle of waging through 
one of its political parties a foreign war which was 
violently opposed by the other great political party, the 
doctrine of States' rights again threatened to reach its 
legitimate conclusion of secession. 

President Madison was denounced as a usurper of 
powers from which he was debarred by the Constitution. 
From the beginning Massachusetts had denied the right 
of the government to call for troops, holding, as has since 
been held in somewhat notable instances, that it was for 
the Governor of the State, and not for the President, to 
decide whether there was sufficient reason for calling out 
State militia. 

Rhode Island and Connecticut refused to put their 
troops under the command of Federal officers, the latter 
declaring her sovereign independence, and holding with 
unswerving tenacity the theory that the United States was 
a confederated republic, not a nation. 

The leaders of the Federalist party were seriously con- 
templating the question of whether the Union was a failure, 
and considering the feasibility of withdrawing and setting 
up a new little union for themselves. 

Two years later the Hartford Convention, called by 



144 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

the Massachusetts Legislature, expressed the opinion that 
"events may prove that the causes of our calamities are 
deep and permanent," and when that shall appear "a 
separation by equitable arrangement will be preferable to 
an alliance by constraint among nominal friends but real 
enemies, inflamed by mutual hatred and jealousy, and in- 
viting by intestine divisions contempt and aggression from 
abroad." In the return of peace, the causes of controversy 
were forgotten, and the vexed question was left to be de- 
cided in a different way and at a fearful cost. 

In the first half-century of constitutional history there 
was no lack of opportunities for testing the prophetic in- 
sight of the great First Consul as to what might be ex- 
pected in th:i event of a clash of interests between the 
sections. 

Such a clash of interests arose in the late 2o's over the 
sale of public lands in the West, and led to a war of words 
in which the subject of nullification was discussed as a 
possible way out of intersectional difficulties. 

In 183 1 the controversy over the protective tariff led 
the great apostle of States' rights, Calhoun, to make the 
assertion : " The great dissimilarity and; as I must add, as 
truth compels me to do, contrariety of interests in our 
country are so great that they can not be subjected to the 
unchecked will of a majority of the whole without defeat- 
ing the great end of government — without which it is a 
curse — justice." A short time before, at a public dinner, 
he had followed the President's toast, "Our Federal 
Union; it must be preserved," with "The Union, next to 
our liberty the most dear; may we all remember that it 
can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the 
States, and distributing equally the benefit and burden of 
the Union." 

The word " nullification " was first used by Jefferson in 



SECESSION. 145 

the Kentucky resolution of 1798, In 1832, Mr. Clay's bill 
providing for "a reduction of duties upon foreign prod- 
ucts, except where they came in conflict with articles of 
domestic manufacture," was regarded by the South as fix- 
ing upon the country the protective system, a policy 
which was favorable to the manufacturers of the North, 
but not to the agriculturists of the South. 

On the 24th of November, 1832, the convention called 
by the Legislature of South Carolina declared the tariff 
act to be null and void, and that the State would be ab- 
solved from allegiance to the Union if the government 
should attempt to enforce the act, and would establish 
an independent government. The threatened war was 
averted by the efforts of the great " Compromiser," Clay, 
who modified his tariff bill to meet the demands of South 
Carolina, and secession was once more postponed to the 
future. 

The general opinion among the leaders of the South is 
thus illustrated by the following statement made by the 
great nullifier: "Nothing short of a negative, absolute 
or in effect, on the part of the government of a State 
can possibly protect it against the encroachments of the 
united government of the States, whenever their powers 
come in conflict." 

In the closing year of his long life, that wise and far- 
sighted statesman, Madison, wrote: "The visible suscep- 
tibility to the contagion of nullification in the Southern 
States, the sympathy arising from known causes, and the in- 
culcated impression of a permanent incompatibility of in- 
terest between the North and the South, may put it in the 
power of popular leaders, aspiring to the highest stations, 
to unite the South, on some critical occasion, in some course 
of action of which nullification may be the first step, se- 
cession the second, and a farewell separation the last.'* 



I4S PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The "incompatibility of interest," which Mr. Madison 
recognized as one of the leading elements of discord 
capable of resulting in "nullification," "secession," and 
" farewell separation," was impressively illustrated in the 
discussions of the commercial convention which met in 
1838 at Augusta, Georgia, and afterward at Charleston, 
South Carolina. 

In this convention a comparison was made between 
the relative commercial conditions of North and South 
before and after the Union. In colonial times the com- 
merce of the South was far superior to that of the North; 
under the Constitution the difference was very largely in 
favor of the North. In 1760 the importations of Virginia 
amounted to 850,000 pounds sterling, and that of South 
Carolina to 555,000 pounds sterling. The imports of New 
York at the same period were only 189,000; of Pennsyl- 
vania, 490,000, and of all the New England colonies col- 
lectively only 561,000 pounds sterling. In 1821 the im- 
ports into New York had risen to about seventy times its 
colonial import at an equal time before the adoption of 
the Constitution. Those of South Carolina were about the 
same as in 1760. In the nullification period of South 
Carolina the difference had increased to an enormous ex- 
tent. New York had more than doubled, Virginia had 
fallen off one-half. South Carolina two-thirds. 

There were natural and inherent causes for a difference 
in the commercial magnitude of the two sections, but, 
making due allowance for these, the convention held that 
unfair legislation was the prevailing cause of their busi- 
ness depression. The plan of the convention, providing 
for the opening of the Southern ports to trade with for- 
eign countries, failed. This failure, though partly the ef- 
fect of Northern advantages of navigation, business apti- 
tude, and free labor, was yet held by the South to be in 



SECESSION. 147 

great degree due to Congressional legislation, which had 
resulted in giving commercial success to the North in pref- 
erence to the South, The undeniable facts still remained, 
that in colonial days the South was the seat of power, and 
that she had now fallen to a minor place. 

Again, in 1842-43 Massachusetts and Ohio proposed a 
"peaceful dissolution of the Union," as preferable to re- 
maining a part of a commonwealth which included Texas 
in its territory. The next year the American anti-slav- 
ery party announced that it was their duty to withdraw 
from the Union and repudiate a Constitution which toler- 
ated slavery. 

In 1844, when the discussion of the annexation of Texas 
was raging hotly, the question of secession again arose 
in the South. A meeting was held at Ashley, South Caro- 
lina, to unite the Southern States in support of annexa- 
tion, and to invite the President to convene Congress to 
arrange terms of separation if Texas should not be admit- 
ted. One of the resolutions passed at that meeting was: 

That the President of the United States be requested by the general 
convention of the slave States, to call Congress together immediately; 
when the final issue shall be made up, and the alternative distinctly pre- 
sented to the free States, either to admit Texas into the Union, or to 
proceed feaceably and calmly to arrange the terms of a dissolution of 
the Union. 

That such dissolution could not be "peaceably and 
calmly" effected evidently did not occur to any member 
of the convention. According to the doctrine of States' 
rights to which they had been trained there was no valid 
reason for making objection to such an arrangement. 

At Beaufort in the same State it was resolved, "that 
we will dissolve this Union sooner than abandon Texas." 
At a large meeting in the Williamsburg District it was re- 
solved that " we hold it to be better and more to the in- 



148 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

terest of the southern and southwestern portions of this 
confederacy to be out of the Union with Texas than in it 
without her." 

For the time, this movement was suppressed by dis- 
senting views earnestly promoted in other parts of the 
South, but the subject was only postponed to break out 
later in a more violent form. 

Thus all the history of the United States, North and 
South, since the adoption of the Constitution, pointed to- 
ward secession as the remedy for all sectional wrongs and 
misfortunes. 

The young men of martial instincts went to West Point 
and learned the doctrine of States' rights, under the foster- 
ing care of the United States government, from the same 
text-books from which they absorbed the art of war. 

Soon after the New England States had threatened to 
secede unless the war with Great Britain was adjusted sat- 
isfactorily to them, a Northern lawyer named Rawle pre- 
pared a work known as " Rawle on the Constitution." In 
this book the right of secession was clearly set forth as 
one guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. 
In view of the circumstances, this work may fairly be sup- 
posed to represent the sentiment of the North on the sub- 
ject of States' rights. 

When Calhoun was Secretary of War he caused this 
book to be included in the course of study as pursued at 
West Point, where it remained until it was superseded in 
i86i by some other text-book which presented a different 
view of the vexed question. For nearly half a century 
the only treatise on the Constitution ever seen by a West 
Point cadet was Rawle's "Commentaries on the Constitu- 
tion," from which they were taught the principle that at a 
later period became a political crime. 

Politicians followed the lead of that greatest of all 



SECESSION. 149 

Southern statesmen, Calhoun, the unparalleled champion 
of States' rights. 

What wonder that, when the vital crisis came, the South 
should resort once more to that course which had served 
her so well in the past — secession? 

Abraham Lincoln's avowed principle was that if slav- 
ery was wrong for the North, it was wrong for the South, 
and that the Federal Union must be all slave or all free 
territory. When, in i860, he was elected President the 
Southern States looked upon the Union as substantially 
broken and the cotton States wanted to secede at once. 
They summoned conventions, in accordance with the prec- 
edent of 1787 in the adoption of the Federal Constitution. 
Through these conventions they revoked the assent of 
each commonwealth to the federal compact and, as 
sovereign commonwealths, they formed a new federal 
compact, as the Southern Confederacy. 

The border States, were bitterly opposed to secession, 
taking no part in the movement, anxiously and prayerfully 
awaiting the policy of President Lincoln — but, alas! they 
interpreted his inaugural speech as a declaration of war. 
After his Cabinet meeting, March 29, 1861, he ordered a 
naval expedition to be in readiness to move on to Sumter 
and Pickens. On April 12, 1861, Beauregard, in opposi- 
tion to this armed invasion, opened fire, and Mr. Lincoln 
further verified the interpretation of his address by issuing 
an ofificial call for seventy-five thousand volunteers to over- 
come " combinations too powerful to be suppressed by ju- 
dicial proceedings." The border States, who had hereto- 
fore been for peace, at once put on their war-paint. 

Virginia, who, but a month before, had by a vote of 
ninety to forty-five rejected the ordinance of secession, 
now immediately passed it. North Carolina, Tennessee 
and Arkansas followed in hot haste. 



150 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Thus North and South, each charging the other with 
aggression, sprang to arms, father against son, brother 
against brother; the North to "save the Union," the South 
to defend her homes and firesides. 

General Pickett was stationed at San Juan Island on 
the Pacific coast when his State seceded, and the follow- 
ing letter to one of his loved ones, written on his way 
back to offer his services to his beloved Virginia, will 
show the contending feelings of his brave and loving 
heart: 

I pray God that this direful revolution 

which has come about because of misunderstandings, and for which I see 
no real necessity, may yet in some way be averted. 

Of course, President Lincoln's call to march against the South, the 
encampment around Washington, the invasion of Maryland by a Mas- 
sachusetts regiment, the blockading of the Southern ports against the 
commerce of the whole world, mean war and leave but one honorable 
course open to me. 

Dearly, therefore, as I love the Union, and proud as I am of my 
country and the great name of American citizen, I can not invade my own 
fireside — I can not raise my arm against my own kith and kin. All my 
ambition and patriotism shall henceforth live only in the defense of my 
beloved State, v/hich has the first claim upon my allegiance, and demands 
this my immediate return to her. I hope the South has thought to keep 
our flag, the stars and the stripes, for the star-spangled banner will be 
worth more to us in the coming conflict than the people of the South, 
who only know their own State flag, have any idea of 

The war between the States has now been over thirty- 
three years. The falsehoods and misrepresentations as to 
the causes which led up to that gigantic struggle should 
have since been truthfully and candidly written, but the 
powers which have mainly controlled affairs since the war 
have seemed to find it necessary to justify their actions 
by an unfair statement of the motives and principles 
which drove the Southern States to secession. 



SECESSION. I 5 " 

Histories, paintings, theatrical exhibitions, panoramas, 
and all things which contribute to form public opinion, 
have, in order to secure financial success, been made to 
pander too much to the tastes and prejudices of those who 
should be furnished with the substantial truth. 

Though the American people, as a class, are as intelli- 
gent generally as the foremost nations of the world, yet 
comparatively few have had the time, thought, or interest 
thoroughly to investigate the causes which prompted the 
action of the South. If the question should be asked of 
the average citizen north of the Potomac, "What was the 
cause of the Civil War?" his reply would be, "The South 
attempted 'to destroy the Union to perpetuate human 
slavery." 

In my humble tribute to the history of the struggle, I 
feel it due to the memory, patriotism, statesmanship 
and pure Christian character of the thousands and tens of 
thousands of our beloved Southern men who offered up 
their all in this mighty struggle, to say here, that I wish 
to prevent, as far as it is possible for my feeble effort to 
do so, any such falsification of so important a page in 
history. 

The right of secession, as shown in the historical facts 
set forth in this chapter, has at different periods been 
claimed by every section of this country. To deny this is 
to deny history. In his speech in Congress on the " Spot 
Resolutions," Mr. Lincoln said: 

Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have tha 
right to rise up and shake off the existing government and form a new 
one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right, 
a right which, we hope and believe, is to liberate the world. Nor is this 
right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing govern- 
ment may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people that can 
may revolutionize, and make their own of so much of a territory as they 
inhabit. More than this, a majority of any portion of such people may 



152 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

revolutionize, putting down a minority, mingled with or near to them, 
who may oppose their movements. Such minority was precisely the case 
of the Tories of our own revolution. 

We see that secession had been acknowledged as a 
right by all parts of the country. When at the Hartford 
Convention New England threatened to secede because 
she felt that her interests were prejudiced by the war with 
England, she asserted her faith in the doctrine of the right 
of States to protect that which most nearly concerned 
their own citizens, though they had no such legal cause of 
secession as the South had. 

Mr. Lincoln was elected on a platform which directly 
assailed the rights of our people granted by the Constitu- 
tion. Thus he violated the Constitution adopted for a 
more perfect union, and thereby made the first assault 
upon the integrity of the Union. Sections 7 and 8 of the 
platform set forth: 

That the new dogma, that the Constitution, of its own force, carries 
slavery into any or all of the territories of the United States, is a danger- 
ous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that in- 
strument itself, with contemporaneous exposition, and with legislative 
and judicial precedent; is revolutionary in its tendency, and subversive 
of the peacs and harmony of the country. 

That the normal condition of all the territory of the United States is 
that of freedom; that as our Republican fathers, when they had abolished 
slavery in all our national territory, ordained that "no person should be 
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, " it be- 
comes our duty, by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to 
maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to vio- 
late it; and we deny the authority of Congress, or a territorial legislature, 
or of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any territory 
of the United States. 

Not only the rights of slavery were attacked in the 
Republican platform, but the right of occupancy to ter- 
ritory won in great part by the blood and treasure of our 



SECESSION. 153 

people was denied. The States, therefore, which had con- 
tributed so much to the formation, protection and exten- 
sion of the American Union were made to feel that they 
no longer had any part in a government for which, when 
treated with justice and fairness, they would gladly have 
died. Thus thousands of broken-hearted, patriotic, union- 
loving men bade farewell to a Union in which their rights 
and privileges were forcibly wrested from them. 

Under the Southern flag there were no traitors, no rebels. 
To state the reverse of this proposition is to falsify his- 
tory; to charge it is a crime. The bravest, truest survivors 
who wore the gray are as ready to defend our country as 
any man who wore the blue. They thank God that no 
question of slavery, secession, or anything else can ever 
again disturb our unity, our interest, or our pride in our 
grand and glorious country. But history will not fail to 
teach us the lesson that we should learn, and which we hope 
our country has learned so thoroughly as never to be for- 
gotten, that the majority, no matter how powerful, can not 
with impunity trample upon the rights of the minority. 

The war which has just been happily concluded showed 
the love and heroism of all parts of this country, and 
teaches all what I would teach my reader in this chapter 
— that the manhood, courage and patriotism of each sec- 
tion of our country must not be disparaged by any other 
portion of our Union. We are Americans all. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

AT YORKTOWN AND WILLIAMSBURG. 

On the 14th ofr February, 1862, General Pickett was 
appointed brigadier-general, and assigned to the com- 
mand of Cocke's Virginia brigade of infantry. 

Pickett's brigade was composed of the Eighth, Eigh- 
teenth, Nineteenth and Twenty-eighth Virginia Regi- 
ments. The Eighth Regiment was commanded by Col- 
onel Eppa Hunton, and was recruited in Loudon County, 
Virginia. The Eighteenth Regiment was commanded by 
Colonel Robert E. Withers, and was recruited in Pittsyl- 
vania County, Virginia. The Nineteenth Virginia Regi- 
ment was commanded by Colonel J. R. Strange, and was 
recruited in Albemarle County. The Twenty-eighth Regi- 
ment was commanded by Colonel Robert T. Preston, and 
was recruited in Roanoke County. 

The first movement of the brigade after General Pickett 
assumed command was the occupation of the Peninsula 
in front of Yorktown under General Joseph E. Johnston, 
where it maintained the line of defense in several severe 
skirmishes with the Federal forces under General George 
B. McClellan. 

Of the four ways in which the Army of the Potomac 
might have advanced toward Richmond, McClellan chose 
the one by Fortress Monroe into the Peninsula and up 
between the James and York rivers. 

Thus the ground which had been made famous less 
than a hundred years before, by the surrender of Corn- 
wallis to the combined forces of Washington and Ro- 

154 



A T YORKTO WN AND WILLIAM SB URG. 1 5 5 

chambeau, again became the scene of important historic 
events. 

President Davis, being uncertain as to whether McClel- 
lan's army was intended for the invasion of Virginia, or 
was on its way to North Carolina, had sent General John 
G. Walker's brigade from Fredericksburg to North Caro- 
lina, and the brigade of General Wilcox from the Rapidan 
to reinforce Magruder near Yorktown. When the ad- 
vance upon Yorktown became evident the divisions of 
D. H. Hill, D. R. Jones, and Early were sent from the 
Army of Northern Virginia to the Peninsula, Jackson's 
division was left at Mount Jackson, Ewell's on the Rap- 
pahannock, Longstreet's at Orange Court-house, and G. 
W. Smith's at Fredericksburg. 

Reports from General Magruder at Yorktown indi- 
cating that McClellan's whole army was moving toward 
Richmond, Major-General Longstreet and General Smith 
were ordered to Richmond, the latter leaving a portion 
of his troops in front of Fredericksburg. 

With his small force General Magruder opposed the 
march of the Federals, with the design of delaying them 
until his army could be reinforced, which he so far suc- 
ceeded in doing as to impress McClellan with the idea 
that the Confederate forces were much larger than they 
really were. 

In the conference which took place about this time, 
between President Davis and his leading generals, John- 
ston urged a consolidation of all the available forces in 
front of Richmond, to receive the impending attack of 
McClellan and repel it with such vigor as to destroy the 
Army of the Potomac, thus hoping to end the war at a 
stroke. Longstreet wished to attack Washington, thereby 
compelling McClellan to turn his attention to affairs 
nearer home. 



156 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

As Davis and Lee opposed Johnston's suggestion, lest 
it might dangerously weaken other important points, and 
Longstreet was not permitted to elaborate his plan, a suc- 
cession of small engagements took place, decisive of 
nothing in particular, unless it might be of the value of 
"On to Richmond!" as a war-cry. The first of these was 
the siege of Yorktown, which began the 5th of April and 
was in progress on the 17th, when Joseph E. Johnston 
took command of the Army of the Peninsula. 

Upon the arrival of Smith and Longstreet the Con- 
federate forces amounted to fifty thousand, Magruder's 
division forming the right wing, Longstreet's the center, 
D. H. Hill's the left. Smith's the reserve. 

There was some long-range skirmishing and a daily 
cannonading, and a line of batteries was constructed. As 
the time drew near for the attack to begin, Johnston de- 
termined to abandon his works, rather than expose his 
troops to a fire resulting in a loss so serious that it could 
not be compensated for by the few days which might be 
gained for the reinforcement of his army. Accordingly, 
on Saturday, the 3d day of May, Yorktown was evacu- 
ated, and General Huger was ordered from Norfolk to 
Richmond. Of the withdrawal from Yorktown Comte 
de Paris says: "The retreat was under the direction of 
Longstreet, who had already given evidence of the posses- 
sion of those qualities which afterward made him the 
greatest of Lee's lieutenants." 

At noon on the 4th Williamsburg was reached. At 
four o'clock the cavalry on the Yorktown road were 
driven in, and a skirmish took place near Fort Magruder, 
where the Federal troops were defeated and lost a piece 
of artillery. 

There was a heavy fall of rain on the night of the 4th, 
and on the next morning Smith's division and the bag- 



AT YORKTOWN AND WILLIAMSBURG. 1 57 

gage-train marched out through rain and mud. The Fed- 
erals attacked the fort, and the brigades of Wilcox and 
A. P. Hill were sent to its assistance, and later, as the fire 
increased, Pickett's and Colston's brigades reinforced the 
troops in the fort. 

Johnston had ridden forward to join the troops on the 
march, but the battle became so hot that he turned back 
and ordered the division of D. H. Hill, which had gone 
forward, to return to Longstreet's assistance. In his offi- 
cial account of the engagement. General Johnston says: 
"The action gradually increased in magnitude until about 
three o'clock, when General Longstreet, commanding the 
rear, requested that a part of Major-General Hill's troops 
might be sent to his aid. Upon this I rode upon the 
field, but found myself compelled to be a spectator, for 
General Longstreet's clear head and brave heart left no 
apology for interference." 

At Williamsburg, on this 5th day of May, 1S62, Pick- 
ett's brigade, as a brigade, fought its first battle, helping 
to repulse the superior force of the Federals with much 
honor and glory to themselves and great loss to the 
enemy. 

General McClellan never made another attack upon 
the Confederates after the battle of Williamsburg, never 
came upon striking terms with them again, but kept them 
at a prudent and respectful distance till he had safely 
crossed the Chickahominy. 

The Williamsburg conflict, though unsought by the 
Confederates, was important to them, in that it not only 
appeased their impatience for action — for ennui is a lash — 
but opened a vista of hope, while to the Federals it showed 
what havoc might be wrought by the mere fragment of an 
army they were following. 

The or \g\n2i\. field-notes from which General Pickett made 



158 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

his revised and condensed report of the battle of Williams- 
burg are as follows: 

Headquarters Third Brigade, Second Division, 

Second Corps, May — , 1862. 

Captain: I have the honor to report that on the morning of the 5th 
instant my brigade was on the march from our bivouac in rear of the 
Old College of Williamsburg. About eight o'clock I received an order 
from Major-General Longstreet to countermarch and follow in rear of 
General Wilcox's brigade. 

My brigade. Captain Bearing's battery leading, was halted near the 
Old College, and then ordered to move toward the redoubts in front of 
the town to the point where the " King's Mill " branches from the main 
road. 

In accordance with directions I informed Brigadier-General Ander- 
son of my presence. Within two hundred yards of the point designated 
I found that the ground immediately in advance was exactly in range of 
the enemy's fire. I at once sent forward my aide. Lieutenant Pickett, to 
Fort Magruder to notify General Anderson of our position. He directed 
me to remain in my position, as he did not then need assistance. 

Half an hour later I received an order from General Anderson to 
bring on my brigade as soon as possible. Hearing a sharp firing in the 
point of woods in front, and not knowing the ground to be suitable for 
the maneuvering of artillery, I ordered Captain Bearing to halt until I 
should ascertain where he would be needed. 

On my way to the skirt of woods I met General Stuart, who pointed 
out the best route. In a few moments I reported to General Anderson. 
Learning from him that the battery in Fort Magruder had suffered 
severely, I, with his approval, sent back an order to Captain Bearing to 
take a section of his battery to its relief. The order was promptly ex- 
ecuted. 

General Anderson directed me to take my brigade into the woods to 
the right of the point at which General Wilcox had first entered, and 
where General Hill with his brigade had also gone in to his assistance. 
The object was to extend well to the right and, if possible, turn the left 
flank of the enemy. I had scarcely filed in with the Eighth Virginia 
when I was recalled. I gave the necessary directions to Lieutenant- 
Colonel Berkeley commanding the Eighth, and upon reaching the edge 
of the woods was ordered to move the other three regiments to the front 
where our forces were hotly engaged. Thus the Eighth was separated 
from its brigade during the action. 



A T YORKTO WN AND WILLI A MSB URG. 1 59 

The Eighteenth, followed by the Nineteenth and Twenty-eighth, re- 
lieved a portion of Wilcox's brigade, which had suffered severely. We 
drove back the enemy in front to a very strong position of felled trees 
forming a perfect abatis. Here I placed the Eighteenth, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Carrington, in line, and the Nineteenth, Colonel Strange, on its 
left. As the ground on the left of this regiment was occupied by the 
Nineteenth Mississippi Regiment, Colonel Mote, and the Seventeenth 
Virginia, Colonel Corse, I placed the Twenty-eighth slightly in rear as 
a reserve for the Eighteenth and Nineteenth. 

From the movements of the enemy at this time I judged that they 
were very strongly reinforced. They advanced to within thirty or forty 
yards of our position, cheering and opening a most severe, well-directed 
and determined fire along the front of the Eighteenth and the right of the 
Nineteenth, which regiments maintained their ground, returning the fire 
with most telling effect. This deadly work was kept up half an hour 
without cessation or giving way on either side. Then, from the renewed 
cheering and the clear ringing of their guns, I think the enemy was again 
reinforced. 

Fearing that our men were wasting their ammunition, I consulted 
with Lieutenant-Colonel Carrington and, finding that he had no field-of- 
ficer, told him to use his utmost endeavors on the right of his regiment 
to prevent his men from throwing away a shot, while I would personally 
superintend the execution of the order on the left, and pass it on to the 
Nineteenth. While endeavoring to do so, much to my surprise I found 
the whole line from right to left abandoning our dearly bought position 
and falling back through the woods. Some one, it appears, had passed 
down an order from the right of the line to fall back. I let them know 
at once that this was false, that no such order had been given, and none 
should be given by me. In a few minutes, with the valuable assistance 
of Lieutenant-Colonel Gantt and my aides. Lieutenants Baird and 
Pickett, they were stopped in time to prevent a great disaster. They 
moved forward to their place, all coming up gallantly with a cheer. 

The Twenty-eighth relieved the Eighteenth, its ammunition being 
low, and Lieutenant-Colonel Carrington fell to the rear a sufficient dis- 
tance partially to refill his cartridge-boxes from the knapsacks of the 
enemy's dead. I sent a courier to the major-general commanding to in- 
form him that we were in want of ammunition. 

I met the gallant and lamented Colonel Irby with four companies of 
the Eighth Alabama Regiment of General Pryor's brigade, who reported 
lo me for duty. I directed him to move slightly to the right of where 
.the Eighteenth had been. He rushed on eagerly at the head of his men, 



l60 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

and coming close on to a party of the enemy, was about to fire, when 
they called out, "We are friends; don't fire!" at the same time holding 
up their hands. While partially turning to caution his men not to fire, 
the brave colonel, with many of his men, was killed by a volley poured 
in by the accomplished cowards. When the fire was returned at such 
short range they fled in mad haste. I ordered Colonel Irby's body to 
be immediately carried from the field. 

About this time reinforcements came up from Colston's and Pryor's- 
brigades. Upon consultation with Generals Hill and Pryor, a general 
charge along the whole line was determined on^ and I moved to the right 
to look after the Eighth Regiment. At the moment of the charge the 
enemy on the right, who had been silent for some time, appeared again 
in numbers, but were gallantly repulsed and driven from the field by the 
Eighth Regiment of my brigade, and the Fourteenth Louisiana Regiment 
of Pryor's brigade. The Nineteenth, supported by the Eighteenth, cap- 
tured a battery and a number of prisoners. 

By order of General Wilcox the Twenty-eighth advanced at a charge 
over an open space in front of the captured battery under a heavy fire, 
still driving the enemy before them. Colonel Allen, of the Eighteenth, 
was for a few moments in the hands of the enemy, but was rescued 
by his own presence of mind and the timely assistance of some of 
his men. 

Shortly after this I reported in person to the major-general com- 
manding, and received instructions from him about bringing off our 
wounded and retiring after dark. These instructions I communicated 
to all the brigadier-generals except General Pryor, whom I failed to find 
because of the darkness and smoke. I dispatched messengers, however, 
to notify him. 

The gallantry and energy exhibited by both officers and men can not 
be too highly commended. After difficult night marches, through 
drenching rains, with but scanty rations, they met enemies well fed, su- 
perior in numbers, better armed, better equipped, and well posted, and 
drove them a mile during the engagement. I take pleasure in stating to 
the major-general commanding that their confidence in their own abil- 
ity and their cause is redoubled since this action. 

The ground in front of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth was literally 
covered with dead. The color-bearer of the Eighteenth (Sergeant Solon 
A. Boston) was shot down while gallantly waving the standard in front 
of the regiment, leading it to the charge. 

I can not close without expressing my appreciation of the prompt- 
ness of the regimental commanders and Lieutenant-Colonel Gantt ia 



A T YORKTO WN AND WILLI AMSB URG. 1 6 1 

carrying out orders and the ability they evinced in conducting their 
regiments when separated from me. 

I take pleasure in calling attention to the efficient service rendered to 
my own brigade, as well as to others, by the gallant Captain Manning, 
aide-de-camp to the major-general commanding. To my personal staff, 
CatDtain Croxton and Lieutenants Baird and Pickett, I am much indebted 
for the continuous and arduous duties they performed under a most 
galling fire. Having been sent with an order, Captain Croxton was with 
General Pryor and Lieutenant-Colonel Berkeley, of the Eighth, during 
the early part of the engagement. These gentlemen speak of the great 
assistance which he rendered them. I respectfully call the attention of 
the major-general commanding to those specially mentioned by their 
colonels in regimental reports. 

I must also mention the dastardly subterfuges of an enemy professing 
to be civilized, such as raising a white flag and pretending to surrender 
in order to stop our fire, to allow their reinforcements to come up and 
enable them to pour in deadly volleys upon an honorable and too un- 
suspicious foe. 

Our loss was severe: Officers killed, two; enlisted men killed, 
twenty-four; officers wounded, nine; enlisted men wounded, one hundred 
and twenty-nine; officers missing, one; enlisted men missing, twenty-five. 
Total killed, wounded and missing, one hundred and ninety. The brigade 
entered the action with fifteen hundred and twenty-nine muskets. Ac- 
compan3'ing is a full list of casualties. 

I am. Captain, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, 

G. E. Pickett, 
To Captain G. M. Sorrel, Brigadier-General Commanding. 

Assistant Adjutant-General. 



CHAPTER XX. 

SEVEN PINES. 

The June roses were in bloom when the battle of Seven 
Pines, May 31 and June i, was fought. There were never 
before such wonderful June roses as those which glorified 
the gardens of the South in that blood-stained summer. 
It seemed as if the crimson of all the battle-fields of that 
ensanguined year had concentrated in the royal red of 
their velvet petals, and the spirit of devotion and patriotic 
ardor had breathed a new fragrance into their glowing 
hearts. They brought a world of comfort to the wounded 
men, lying helpless on couches of pain. 

The name of this rose-time battle is different with the 
two armies — being called by the Federal troops "Fair 
Oaks," from a little railway-station of that name near 
which it was fought, and by the Confederates "Seven 
Pines," from a neighboring group of pine-trees. By this 
latter name it is always known in the common parlance 
of the country. 

The fighting occurred at the intersection of the Seven- 
Mile Williamsburg road and the Nine-Mile road, while 
"Fair-Oaks," where there was only a skirmish with the 
rear guard, in which the Federal troops were victorious, 
is on the northern side of the York River Railroad, and to 
the left of "Seven Pines." But for the adverse direction 
of the wind there would, in all probability, never have 
been any dispute as to the final results of "Seven Pines" 
-or " Fair Oaks." 

By the 25th of May the left wing of the Federal army, 

162 



SEVEN PINES. 163 

comprising the corps of Heintzelman and Keyes, had 
crossed the Chickahominy. McClellan was trying to 
bridge the stream for the crossing of his artillery, an ef- 
fort greatly impeded by the heavy rains which carried 
the bridges away as fast as they could be constructed. 

Sumner, Franklin and Porter extended their troops on 
the east bank along a line of eighteen miles. Johnston's 
design was to attack Heintzelman and Keyes as soon as 
they should be far enough removed from the rest of the 
army to make such a movement practicable. 

On the morning of the 30th a reconnoitering party un- 
der General Garland reported indications of the presence 
of at least a corps of Federals west of Seven Pines. Gen- 
eral Johnston seems to have made the mistake of underes- 
timating the strength of the force which he was about to 
attack, it consisting of two corps instead of one, as he 
supposed. In the evening he issued the following com- 
mands: 

Headquarters Department of Northern Virginia, 
Major-General G. W. Smith. May 30, 9:15 p.m. 

General : If nothing prevents, we will fall upon the enemy in front 
of Major-General Hill (who occupies the position on the Williamsburg 
road from which your troops moved to the neighborhood of Meadow 
Bridge) early in the morning — as early as practicable. The Chicka- 
hominy will be passable only at the bridge, a great advantage to us. 
Please be ready to move by the Gaines road, coming as early as possi- 
ble to the point at which the road to New Bridge turns off. Should 
there be cause for haste, Major-General McLaws, on your approach, will 
be ordered to leave his ground for you, that he may reinforce General 
Longstreet. Most respectfully your obedient servant, 

J. E. Johnston. 

Headquarters Department of Northern Virginia. 
Major-General Huger. May 30, 1862, 8:30 p.m. 

General: The reports of Major-General D. H. Hill give me the 
impression that the enemy is in considerable strength in his front. It 



1 64 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

seems to me necessary that we should increase our force also; for that 
object I wish to concentrate the troops of your division on the Charles 
City road, and to concentrate the troops of Major-General Hill on the 
Williamsburg road. To do this it will be necessary for you to move, 
as early in the morning as possible, to relieve the brigade of General 
Hill's division now on the Charles City road. I have desired General 
Hill to send you a guide. The road is the second large one diverging to 
the right from the Williamsburg road. The first turns off near the toll- 
gate. On reaching your position on the Charles City road, learn at 
once the route to the main roads, to Richmond on your right and left, 
especially those to the left, and try to find guides. Be ready if an ac- 
tion should begin on your left, to fall upon the enemy's left flank. 
Most respectfully your obedient servant, 

J. E. Johnston. 
P. S. — It is necessary to move very early. 

Longstreet received instructions to form his own and 
Hill's division in two lines at right angles across the 
Williamsburg road and attack in that order. Huger was 
to come down the Charles City road, attacking the enemy 
on the left as soon as the engagement in front should be 
on. Smith was to prevent the passage of the enemy 
across the river to assist Heintzelman and Keyes. Should 
no such occasion arise, he was to attack the right of the 
forces engaged with Longstreet. 

A violent storm of the 30th had flooded the level 
ground, and Longstreet was delayed by the necessity of 
constructing a bridge at Gillis Creek. This difficulty sur- 
mounted he reached position at nine o'clock and waited 
with Hill for the arrival of the troops from Norfolk, who 
had been manning the defenses of that city. 

At two o'clock Longstreet's division, with Hill's, 
marched toward the enemy, meeting the advanced troops 
at three o'clock and driving them back to the first line of 
Keyes's corps — Casey's division. Here a vigorous fight 
took place and the Federals fell back to the second line, 
the division of Couch at Seven Pines. The entire corps of 



SEVEN PINES. 165 

Keyes was broken an4 driven from its ground, most of 
them along Williamsburg road to Heintzelman's line and 
two brigades into White Oak swamp. 

In the meantime, Johnston had left the control to 
Longstreet and Hill, and had gone to the Nine-Mile 
road to watch for reinforcements which might be sent 
to the Unionists from beyond the Chickahominy. He 
had supposed that the sound of the musketry at the 
opening of the action would be audible from that point. 
By some fatality, the wind carried the sound away from 
hi?n, only four miles distant from the scene of action, 
and bore it to McClellan, lying ill ten miles away, who 
recognized the situation and sent Sumner forward to Fair 
Oaks. 

Johnston, with Smith and Whiting, was to have made 
an attack upon the Federals' right simultaneously with 
Longstreet's advance, but was prevented by his failure 
to catch the reports of the musketry fire until it was too 
late to co-operate fully. He then sent Smith forward 
along the Nine-Mile road. The Sixth North Carolina, 
being in advance, encountered the Federal skirmishers 
and drove them back. As Johnston rode on with Hood's 
brigade, he stopped near Fair Oaks to witness a contest 
between Smith and a body of Federal infantry supported 
by a battery, but supposing that Smith was able to hold 
his ground, he sent Hood on to join Longstreet and attack 
the right flank of the Federals. General Couch had gone 
toward Fair Oaks to attack the Confederate left when he 
was met by Smith and Johnston, 

At 4.30 General Sumner arrived at Fair Oaks with 
Sedgwick's division and Kirby's battery, having suc- 
ceeded in crossing the river on two bridges not yet com- 
pleted. Here he was attacked by Smith with Hampton's, 
Pettigrew's and Hatton's brigades. Smith was repulsed, 



1 66 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Hatton killed, Petti^rew wounded and taken prisoner, 
and Hampton wounded. 

While the battle yet continued darkness came to force 
a truce. Johnston ordered his troops to sleep on their 
lines to be ready for the morning. Shortly after seven 
he was slightly wounded by a musket-shot. A little later 
he observed that one of his colonels was trying to dodge 
the shells. He turned toward him and said, "Colonel, 
there is no use dodging; when you hear them they have 
passed." Just then a shell exploded, striking him on the 
breast, and he fell unconscious into the arms of one of his 
couriers, Drury L. Armistead. When he regained con- 
sciousness he foun(4,that his sword and pistols were gone. 
"The sword was one worn by my father in the Revo- 
lutionary War," he said, "and I would not lose it for ten 
thousand dollars; will not some one please go back and 
get it and my pistols for me?" Armistead returned to 
the field, found them and carried them safely off through 
a storm of artillery, receiving one of the pistols as a token 
of the gratitude of the wounded chief. The pistols had 
been presented to Johnston by the inventor. Colonel Colt. 
Johnston was so severely wounded that he was not able 
to return to the service until the following November, a 
serious loss to the Confederacy, as few have equaled him 
in military skill and sagacity, in high soldierly qualities, 
and in the art of winning the hearts of his fellow soldiers. 

The command passed temporarily to General G. W. 
Smith, as the next in rank, to be soon succeeded by Gen- 
eral R. E. Lee. Smith, a short time later, resigned his 
commission and went to Georgia. 

Hill spent the night of the 31st in the comfortable tent 
of Casey, surrounded by the luxuries which that ofificer 
had selected more, perhaps, with reference to his own 
tastes than to those of a Confederate leader. In war 



SEVEN PINES. 167 

times, however, there are certain crises in which a soldier 
is not inclined to be fastidious, and if a few of Hill's pet 
fancies had been neglected he did not complain. 

The next day was spent by Longstreet in fighting- 
along the Williamsburg road. 

On this day Pickett's brigade played an important and 
gallant part, an account of which may be best given in 
Pickett's report to General Johnston: 

Sir: On the afternoon of May 31, 1862, just as the battle of Seven 
Pines was being opened by Major-General Longstreet, I was directed 
by that officer to move with my brigade to the York Railroad bridge, 
cover the same, repel any advance of the enemy up that road, and hold 
myself in readiness to move to the support of our advance, if needed. 
About 9 P.M. I received orders from General Longstreet to march my 
brigade at daylight and report to Major-General D. H. Hill, at or near 
Seven Pines. I moved accordingly, and found General Hill at General 
Casey's late headquarters, just in rear of the enemy's redoubt. 

My brigade had marched on some four hundred yards in advance of 
this point when it was there halted. General Hilldirected me to ride over 
to the railroad and communicate with Brigadier-General Hood, whose 
right was resting on that road. I asked General Hill where the enemy 
were. He said they were some distance in advance; I had no definite 
idea where, as I saw none, and had not time to examine the position or 
the nature of the ground. 

With two of my staff-ofiicers, Captains Pickett and Archer, I pro- 
ceeded through the undergrowth and thickets toward the railroad some 
four hundred yards, when I was met by a part of the Louisiana Zouaves 
(who had evidently been on a plundering expedition), rusning past me at 
a most headlong speed. I seized on one fellow who was riding a mule 
with a halter, and detained him for explanation. He said the enemy- 
were within a few yards of us, and entreatea me to lei him save himself. 

I immediately rode back with him at a gallop, and as briefly as pos- 
sible informed General Hill of the circumstances. He ordered me to at- 
tack, and I supposed the same order was given to the other brigade com- 
manders. I rejoined my brigade at once and, by a change of front for- 
ward, put it in line of battle nearly perpendicular to the railroad and 
advanced, Armistead on my left, Pryor and Wilcox (the latter I did not 
see, but heard he was there) on my right. 



1 68 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Within a short distance we struck the enemy, who opened heavily 
on us, drove him through an abatis, over a cross-road leading to the rail- 
road, and was advancing over a second abatis when I discovered that 
Armistead's brigade had broken, and were leaving the field pell-mell. 
At this moment I was on foot and half-way across the abatis, the men 
moving on beautifully and carrying everything before them. I could 
scarcely credit my own eyes on witnessing this misfortune on my left. I 
immediately rode to that part of the field and found nothing between me 
and the railroad except the gallant Armistead himself with a regimental 
color and some thirty persons, mostly officers. 

I saw our danger at once, and despatched a courier to General Hill 
asking for more troops to cover the vacuum. Receiving no reply, and 
the enemy pressing forward in force, brigade after brigade, and threat- 
ening my left flank, I threw back the left wing of the Nineteenth Virginia, 
the left regiment, so as to oppose a front to them, despatched a staff- 
officer to General Hill with a request for troops, and after awhile sent a 
second despatch, similarly worded. 

As a matter of course, from having been the attacking party, I now had 
to act on the defensive. Fortunately, the enemy seemed determined on 
attacking and carrying my front and driving me out of the abatis, which 
our men succeeded in preventing, though with considerable loss. 

About this time I learned that Pryor's brigade was being withdrawn 
from my right. I had, in the meantime, sent all my staff and couriers 
back to General Hill, the last message being that if he would send more 
troops and some ammunition to me we would drive the enemy across the 
Chickahominy. I have alzvays believed this would have been done but 
for the misfortune which happened to our general on the previous even- 
ing. Had he not been wounded, but on the field with us, the result would 
have been entirely different. 

I do not mean to cast any blame on the brave and heroic Hill, for 
after the fall of the master-spirit there seemed to be no head, and Hill, 
I know, was bothered and annoyed with countermanding orders. No 
assistance, no demonstration was given or made from the other sids of 
the railroad, A most perfect apathy seemed to prevail. Not a gun 
zuas fired, and I subsequently learned from Brigadier-General Hood 
that he saw the enemy pouring his forces across the railroad, not 
more than six or eight hundred yards in his front, and concentrating 
their attack on me, and that one piece of artillery placed in the rail- 
road cut would have stopped this and drawn their attention to his front. 
But he said he had instructions to make no movement, but to zvait for 
orders. A forward movement then by the left wing of our army would 



SEVEN PINES. 169 

have struck the enemy in flank and at any rate have stopped their con- 
centration. 

At this perilous juncture, hearing nothing from General Hill, I rode 
as rapidly as possible to him, and explained as laconically as I could the 
position of affairs. He asked me if I could not withdraw my brigade. I 
said yes, but I did not wish to do so; that I would leave all my wounded, 
lose many more men, and that the enemy would pour down on the dis- 
organized mass, as he himself termed the troops about him. He then 
sent two regiments of Colston's, which Captain Pickett put in position 
on my left, and asked me to take Mahone's brigade and put it on my 
right, which was done, Mahone becoming hotly engaged a few moments 
after getting in position. 

I had ordered my men, as far as possible, to reserve their fire. 
From that circumstance, I suppose, and from the fact that the enemy 
had become aware of the small force actually opposed to them, a brigade 
debouched from the piece of woods in my front and moved steadily toward 
my left flank. They came up to within short range, when their com- 
mander, seeing his men about to commence firing, stopped them and 
called out, "What troops are those?" Some of our men shouted, " Vir- 
jrijn'atts! " He then cried out, "Don't fire! — they'll surrender; we'll 

capture all these Virginians!" Scarcely were the words uttered 

when the Nineteenth and the left of the Eighteenth rose in the abatis and 
poured a withering volley into them, killing their commanding ofiicer, 
and literally mowing down their ranks. Just then Colston's regiments 
came up on the left and Mahone on the right. The enemy retreated to 
their bosky cover and their fire immediately slackened. No other at- 
tempt was made by them to advance, and about i p.m. (I judge), by 
General HilVs order, I withdrew the zvhole of our front line, Pryor 
and Wilcox and some other troops I do not remember being in position 
some four hundred yards in our rear. We withdrew in perfect order. 
Not a gun was fired at us, and we brought off all our wounded. 

This was the conclusion of the battle of Seven Pines. No shot was 
fired afterward. Our troops occupied the same ground that evening, 
June I, and that night which they had held on the previous night. Gen- 
eral Mahone and his brigade occupied the redoubt, and our line of pick- 
ets was thrown out well in advance. I know this of my own personal 
knowledge, for General Hill sent for me about one o'clock at night or, 
rather, morning of June 2, and I went to the redoubt in search of him, 
and still further on toward our picket-line. 

General Hill gave me special orders to cover the withdrawal of the 
troops with my brigade, which, by the way, proved a much easier task 



170 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

than I had anticipated. I had formed my line of battle, two regiments, 
on each side of the road, some little distance in rear of the redoubt. 
Half an hour after sunrise the whole of our force had filed past. I then 
leisurely moved off, not an enemy in sight, nor even a puff of smoke. 

My brigade consisted of the Eighth Virginia, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Berkeley; Eighteenth, Colonel Withers; Nineteenth, Colonel Strange; 
Twenty-eighth, Colonel Walter. Aggregate, seventeen hundred. Loss 
three hundred and fifty killed and wounded. No prisoners. 

Very respectfully, 

(Signed) G, E. Pickett, 
To General Jos. E. Johnston. Brigadier-General. 

This battle brought the war closer to me than any 
other had yet done. The school had closed and my 
vacation was just beginning. I could not return to my 
home, which was within the Federal lines, and my mother 
had accepted an invitation for me from friends in Rich- 
mond. 

The library and parlors of the beautiful home of my 
friends had been given up for the comfort of the wounded 
soldiers. The city was in tears; the horrors of war had 
become a reality. Busy, bustling, sad enough scenes 
were being enacted on every side. New regiments from 
the far South had but just arrived and were marching 
through the streets, cheering and waving their hats as 
they passed. Batteries of artillery were hurrying along 
the thoroughfares, all going toward the front, down Main 
and Broad streets into the Williamsburg road. Long 
lines of ambulances coming from the opposite way toiled 
slowly along, filled with the wounded from the battle-field 
who were being carried to the various hospitals, the long, 
torturing way marked by the trail of blood that oozed 
drop by drop from human veins. Here and there might 
be seen a wagon-load of dead, piled one upon another, 
their stiffened, rigid feet exposed to view, showing to the 
horrified spectators that for just so many the cares and 



SEVEN PINES. 17^ 

sorrows of this life, its pains and miseries, were passed 
forever. Every vehicle of any description was utilized 
and crowded to its utmost capacity. The less severely 
wounded were made to walk, and long lines of them 
could be seen hobbling along the street, their wounds 
bound up in bloody rags. 

The citizens turned out in full force and did all in their 
power to alleviate the sufferings of the soldiers. Not a 
home in all the city wherein some wounded were not 
taken to be nursed with tenderest care. Every possible 
space, parlors, passages, and chambers, were converted 
into temporary hospitals, and everything done that un- 
wearied nursing and gentlest attention could devise, and 
that for the roughest soldier in the ranks as readily as for 
the general who wore the stars. Women stood before 
their doors with wine and food, ministering it unsparingly 
to the wounded going by. 

The Capitol square, the news-mart and general rendez- 
vous at all times for the soldiers, was now filled with offi- 
cers, privates and citizens, and many who were in doubt 
as to the fate of some loved one, turned their steps to 
this little park as the surest and easiest way of gaining 
information. Comrades met and congratulated each 
other on escape. Citizens were listening to recitals of the 
battle. Dirty, mud-covered soldiers, husbands, brothers 
and lovers, were clasped in whitest arms. 

The soft-voiced women of the South had dauntless 
souls, and when sobbing in agony at parting they yet 
could murmur with pallid lips like the Spartan mother 
when handing the shield to her son — "Return with it or 
upon it!" 

It had been a terrible time of anxiety to the people of 
Richmond. All day long the cannon had thundered and 
roared. With agonized feelings they had listened to the 



172 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

death-sounds, and with nerves strained to the highest ten- 
sion awaited the results. Not only did they have their 
own near and dear to think of, but from all the South had 
poured in letters to friends and relatives, with the sacred 
charge, " care for and watch out for our loved ones if 
wounded." From all quarters of the Confederacy wives 
followed their husbands to the scene of action. Every 
available house, public and private, was sought for by the 
refugees in the city. 

To these strangers in a strange land it had been a trial 
of no slight moment to listen to those death-dealing 
monsters and know that a dear one's life was at stake. 

Ah, yes; this battle had thrilled the city to its center. 
Richmond authorities were unprepared for so extraordi- 
nary a call upon their accommodations. Buildings were 
hastily fitted up with the barest of comforts; medical and 
all other stores were inadequate to the demand. The 
doctors were employed day and night. The women, young 
and old, volunteered their services as nurses. In every 
house soups and other delicacies were made for the 
wounded. Though much suffering was in a measure 
mitigated, many a precious life, which otherwise might 
have been saved, was lost for want of ordinary attention. 

For days and nights wagons and ambuiances never 
ceased to empty their wretched loads before the doors of 
each of these hastily improvised hospitals until the build- 
ings overflowed with maimed humanity. There was not an 
empty store in which rude pallets were not strewn over 
the floor and counter. In the dressing of the wounds — 
rough it must have seemed, in spite of every effort to 
make it gentle — the racking of quivering nerves passed all 
bounds of patient endurance. Screams of agony would 
sometimes break out upon the open air with startling 
emphasis. 



SEVEN PINES. 173 

Here was a poor fellow being taken from an ambulance, 
with an arm shot so nearly off that it needed only the 
knife to finish the work; another with a mangled leg. It 
were better to look away from such a piteous spectacle. 
Here a boy with his face so torn by a shell that his mother 
would not have recognized him, and there, a dying soldier, 
his countenance already pallid in the fast-coming chill of 
death. "And this one is dead; died on the way," they 
said as they lifted a corpse from the wagon, while the 
passer-by, grown rapidly familiar with such fearful sights, 
glanced hastily and passed on. 

So the long procession of wounded, nearly five thou- 
sand, young boys, middle-aged and white-haired men, from 
the private to the highest ranks, hurt in every conceivable 
manner, suffering in every way; parched, feverish, ago- 
nized, wearing a look of mute agony no words may 
describe, or else lapsed into a fortunate unconsciousness, 
wended their way to the hospitals. 

There went men from every State, pouring out blood 
like water and offering up lives of sacrifice for the cause 
they had espoused. No city in the world was sadder than 
our Richmond in those days. All the miseries and woes 
of Seven Pines had been emptied into her fair homes and 
streets. She had " no language but a cry," an exceedingly 
bitter cry, that rose in its might to God on high "if the 
heavens were not brass." 

As you walked the streets some scene to make the 
heart ache would be enacted before your eyes. The dreaded 
ambulance might draw up before some residence whose 
doors would open to receive a burden borne in tenderly, 
brother, son, or husband. There would gather hastily on 
the steps members of the family to receive him, dead or 
hurt. 

From some wife, sister, or mother you heard words of 



174 PICKETT AMD HIS MEN. 

tenderest meaning, or bitterest weeping, or scream of 
agony as you passed along; or it might be that you caught 
only a look of mute despair as if she had turned to stone, 
for we take such things differently, we women. 

Black waved its sad signal from door to door. It was 
no unusual thing to see four or five funeral processions at 
the same time on their way to the city of the dead. 

People realized with a sudden shock the actualities of 
an internecine strife; it was brought to their very doors. 
Before they had seen only its pride and pomp, and its 
martial showing. They had heard only the rattling of 
artillery over the stony streets, and the tread of passing 
columns. All at once, with the sound of hostile guns, 
gaunt, grim-visaged war touched their hearts and sickened 
their souls with horror. 

It rendered them more determined, more earnest, more 
sincere. It made them feel that it was time to perform 
their part of the great tragedy, and not waste the hours 
in light comedy, vain regrets, or childish longings. In one 
day Richmond was changed from a mirth-loving, pleasure- 
seeking place, into a city of resolute men and women, 
nerved to make any sacrifice for their cause. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

GAINES'S MILL. 

Lee's army on June 25, 1862, received orders to cook 
three days' rations, draw eighty rounds of ammunition, 
and be ready to march at sound of the bugle. 

Richmond at that time had but few, and very imper- 
fect, fortifications. The Federals had already sent up two 
of their gunboats as far as Drury's Bluff and, though 
they had been repulsed, great fear for the safety of the 
city was felt by all. Congress, then in session, was dis- 
cussing the propriety of its evacuation. 

Consequently, the success of the Confederates in the 
battles of Williamsburg and Seven Pines, though not so 
brilliant as some subsequent ones, was of great moment 
to them, not only in its moral effect, but in preventing 
McClellan's immediate approach to Richmond. 

Pickett's brigade was increased after these battles by 
Colonel William D. Stuart's Fifty-sixth Virginia Regi- 
ment, temporarily commanded by its lieutenant-colonel, 
Peyton Slaughter. The regiment was greatly depleted in 
numbers, having belonged to the Army of the West, and 
been cut up at Fort Donelson. 

General Joseph E. Johnston was severely wounded in 
the battle of Seven Pines, and General Robert E. Lee 
for the first time personally assumed command of the 
army. 

Anxiety was felt for the safety of Richmond. Mc- 
Clellan was threatening it from the north side of the 
Chickahominy. Lee's plan was to send Jackson down 

175 



176 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

the valley of the Shenandoah toward Washington, attract- 
ing the attention of the Federal forces to that quarter, 
while he secretly instructed Jackson to co-operate with 
him upon McClellan's right flank. 

Two hours before daybreak on the 26th of June, 
Pickett's brigade was ordered out of its cantonments on 
the Williamsburg road, and before daylight was on the 
Mechanicsville turnpike leading northward out of Rich- 
mond. In the afternoon of the same day General A. P. 
Hill's division set in motion Lee's plan of attack upon 
McClellan, crossing the Chickahominy by the Meadow 
Bridge road and Mechanicsville turnpike, and capturing 
by sundown McClellan's right position at Mechanicsville. 

That evening Pickett's brigade crossed the Chicka- 
hominy and bivouacked on their arms in front of Mechan- 
icsville. Between half past two and three o'clock next 
morning the attack was recommenced. General Lee driv- 
ing the Federals before him till he reached Ellyson's 
Mill, a strongly fortified point, which Lee carried with 
considerable loss. 

McClellan then continued his retreat, burning and de- 
stroying everything of any value that could not be carried 
away, until he reached Watts's Farm, a wonderful natural, 
as well as improved, stronghold, known also by the names 
of Gaines's Mill and Cold Harbor. There was fought the 
greatest battle of the war up to that time — the battle of 
Gaines's Mill, so called because a mill of that name was 
near the central point of attack. 

The great stage-painter. Nature, had never arranged 
a more picturesque scene for a battle than that which 
was set for Gaines's Mill, one of the most awful contests 
of the Civil War. It was an undulating plain, gracefully 
rising into gentle swells, crowned by dense growths of 
trees. 



GAINES'S MILL. 177 

It terminated in a tall cliff, a great rounded mass of 
rock, which had been hurled from its native bed so many- 
centuries before as to be now covered with a large forest. 
This cliff furnished a position which seemed to ensure 
victory to that leader who should be so fortunate, or so 
wise, as to gain this point of vantage. 

It was here that General George B. McClellan, the 
astute engineer, brilliant but most unfortunate of military 
leaders, recognizing at once the natural advantages and 
strength of the position from which the battle was to be 
fought, elected to make his stand. The position was 
formidable in itself, and his clever corps of engineers 
soon made it almost impregnable. 

Directly in front of the cliff, separated from it by a 
deep gorge, was a low, level field of about eight hundred 
acres. This field was partly covered with a heavy crop 
of oats which, together with a rank natural growth of 
broom-sedge, afforded concealment to McClellan's sharp- 
shooters and lines of skirmishers. 

The Confederates, in order to make an attack upon the 
stronghold on which McClellan stood at bay, were obliged 
to advance over this field, a distance of about six hundred 
yards, in direct line of approach. The cliff was defended by- 
three tiers of field artillery and a heavy infantry support. 

The battle was fought June 27, 1862. It was the turn- 
ing-point of the Seven Days' Battles around Richmond. 
For mxonths "On to Richmond" had been the war-cry of 
the Federals. No event of the memorable campaign 
which had followed that slogan was more important in 
its results than this desperate conflict. 

Pickett's brigade was ordered to the front and formed 
in line of battle just under the brow of the hill, on the edge 
of the field with its luxuriant covering of oats and sedge.. 
Kemper's brigade was stationed near Pickett's. 
12 



178 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Jackson's column was supposed to be somewhere on 
the left, though as yet nothing had been heard from him, 
he having been delayed by the obstructions which the 
Federals in passing had taken the precaution to put in his 
way. Lee had given a general order to make an attack 
in front upon hearing Jackson's musketry open upon the 
enemy. 

The Federal forces were under command of General 
Fitz John Porter, and extended over two miles, from the 
Chickahominy to Cold Harbor. Upon the dominant 
points of the field he had posted sixty cannon. 

Near the noon hour the battle in all its fury was on. 
The hills trembled under the roar of one hundred and 
twenty pieces of artillery. The plain was shrouded in 
smoke so dense that the two armies were lost to view. 
In these days of smokeless powder no battle-field can 
equal those of the olden time in terrific majesty and mys- 
terious fascination. The mists which enshroud war, as 
well as many other subjects, are gradually passing away, 
and we are beginning to see things as they are. 

The banks of the chasm which protected the Army 
of the Potomac in its strong post on the cliff were 
lined with serried ranks awaiting the signal for action. 
Squadrons of troopers were dashing over the field; dense 
columns of infantry were rushing madly into the fray; 
the field was agleam with the flashing of bayonet and sword. 

Through the clouds of the cannonade A. P. Hill's 
division charged again and again with what a Northern 
writer has called "a disregard of death never surpassed." 
Out from the dells and from behind the trees the Federal 
reserves rushed forth and beat them back, but not until the 
foeman's ranks were thinned almost to the point of break- 
ing. Not a gun was left which Porter could call into 
service. 



GAINES'S MILL. 179 

The Federal general, Butterfield, had his horse shot 
from under him, narrowly escaped a fragment of shell 
that struck his hat, and had been protected from a mus- 
ket-ball by his sword, which was indented by the impact. 
Several of his aides had been killed at his side. He con- 
tinued to rally his men. 

Longstreet was ordered to threaten the left and thus 
draw away troops from the right. Near sunset Lee sent 
word to Longstreet that "all other efforts had failed and 
unless he could do something the day was lost," where- 
upon Pickett and Anderson were ordered to assault and 
Kemper was called as reserve. Whiting, having lost his 
commander, Jackson, asked to be put into battle and was 
placed with his and Hood's brigades on the left of Pickett 
and Anderson. 

Pickett directed Withers, colonel of the Eighteenth 
Regiment, to throw out a line of skirmishers to feel the 
enemy. Pickett had noticed that on the right of his line, 
partially concealed in a clump of trees, was a force of the 
Federals. He at once detached the Eighth and Eight- 
eenth Regiments from the right of his line, and advanced 
with them in person to rout them from that point. At 
this time there was no appearance or sign of the enemy 
in his front. As Pickett moved out of cover with the 
two regiments, commanded respectively by Eppa Hunton 
and Robert E. Withers, the sudden puffs of smoke and 
simultaneous sharp rifle-cracks from the field of oats and 
sedge revealed to him that the enemy were not only con- 
cealed there, but were watching and were cognizant of his 
every movement. 

Pickett had temporarily charged Colonel Walter Har- 
rison, whom he had ordered to remain behind with the 
three regiments, to execute at once the order of the com- 
manding general, should the signal to advance come be- 



l80 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

fore his return. Pickett had but just crossed over when 
Major Sorrell, Longstreet's adjutant-general, brought the 
order to advance. 

The Nineteenth Regiment, commanded by Colonel 
Strange, was now on the right, being the center of the 
brigade. The Twenty-eighth, led by Colonel Robert T. 
Preston, was next. The Fifty-sixth, under Colonel Peyton 
Slaughter, was on the left. In this order the three regi- 
ments charged at double-quick upon the enemy's works, 
in the teeth of a tempest of death-dealing projectiles of 
every description, across this field of oats and sedge. 

Pickett simultaneously moved down with the other 
two regiments. From the extreme right the five regi- 
ments were again united in the center of the field, and 
charged in full line of battle, brigade front, Pickett 
leading his men and cheering them on. The skirmish 
line was soon driven in. The fire from the Federal bat- 
teries and small arms was something terrific. The brigade 
pushed on — on through a continuous rain of shot and the 
roar of guns. 

Whiting says: "The enemy, concealed in the woods 
and protected by the ravine, poured a destructive fire 
upon the advancing line for a quarter of a mile, and 
many brave officers and men fell. Near the crest in front 
of us and lying down appeared the fragments of a brigade; 
men were skulking from the front in a shameful manner; 
the woods on our left and rear were full of troops in safe 
cover, from which they never stirred; but on the right of 
the Third a brigade {Picketfs) was moving manfully up; 
still further on the extreme right our troops appeared to 
be falling back." 

Colonel Robert E. Withers, commanding the Eight- 
eenth Regiment, and Colonel Peyton Slaughter, leading 
the Fifty-sixth, were shot down — both mortally wounded 



GAINES'S MILL. 1 8 1 

it was alleged at the time. Though their lives were 
spared, it was their last battle. They were too badly 
wounded ever to return to the service. So terrific was 
the fusillade, so incessant, so concentrated, and at such 
close range, that the escape of any one of them seemed 
miraculous. 

Once the brave old brigade wavered under the heavy 
fire upon its shattered, depleted ranks. It was just be- 
fore they reached the deep ravine, and then only for a 
moment, for at this crisis R. H. Anderson came up with 
his brave South Carolina brigade. With the rebel yell 
mingling with the death-sounds and echoing and rever- 
berating, these two brigades, Pickett's and Anderson's, 
rushed together into the ravine and charged the death- 
dealing batteries and infantry that crowned the cliff. 
Straight up they dashed against a storm of shot and 
shell, not once faltering before the deadly rain that beat 
upon them. 

They had almost reached the reserve when a cavalry 
charge descended upon them. 

Of this charge the Prince de Joinville, who was serving 
on the staff of McClellan, says: "I saw the troopers 
draw their swords with the sudden and electrical im- 
pulse of determination and devotion. As they got into 
motion I asked a young officer the name of his regiment. 
'The Fifth Cavalry,' he replied, brandishing his saber 
with a soldier's pride in his regiment. Unfortunate young 
man! I saw the same regiment the next day. From the 
charge of that evening but two officers had returned. 
He was not one of them." 

Pickett was shot from his horse, leading and cheering 
on his men — his shoulder pierced by a Minie-ball. He 
paused but for a moment, then pressed forward on foot, 
still leading his brigade, waving his cap and cheering his 



1 82 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

men, his arm hanging limp and helpless at his side — his 
well-trained, almost human, battle-horse following as 
closely and circumspectly behind as if the lame, shot arm, 
strong and well, had held the rein and led him on. 

Though the charge was repelled the check had given 
the artillery time to open a fire which for a time made 
gaps in the lines of the assailants. The gunners, however, 
soon abandoned their guns and fled, leaving twenty-two 
pieces as Confederate prizes. The horses had all been 
either killed or so badly wounded that they had to be 
killed. 

General Randolph, at that time the Confederate Sec- 
retary of War, who, with others, viewed the scene from 
an adjacent height, said that never on any battle-field 
was there witnessed a more gallant action or a more 
glorious sight. He not only made special mention of 
General Pickett, paying him the highest encomiums, but 
wrote him a most appreciative personal letter, which i 
hold as a legacy for the George E. Picketts of the future. 

In Whiting's report he says: "In the meantime, my 
division steadily continued to advance, though suffering 
terribly, until night found them completely across the 
plateau and beyond the battle-field. Pickett's brigade 
had ably fought on the right; the general himself was 
severely wounded in the charge." 

On the Cold Harbor road, Stonewall Jackson had 
been engaged on the right of the Federals, and was 
pressing down on their flank. McClellan, the clever en- 
gineer, the clean-hearted man and fearless soldier, fiercely 
attacked thus in front and flank, was forced from his 
stronghold and driven into the Chickahominy swamp. 
Under the cover of the darkness he made his way out, 
which would have been impossible, had he not, with his 
foresight and training in military engineering, corduroyed 



GA INES' S MILL. 1 8 3 

and trestle-bridged the otherwise swampy streams and 
swales and bogs. 

Porter's troops were saved from a disorderly rout by 
the valor of the brigades of French and Meagher, who 
arrived as Porter was retreating, and held the crest under 
a storm of shells and balls. 

Colonel R. Estvan, of the Confederate cavalry, says: 
" A Federal brigade, commanded by Meagher, and consist- 
ing chiefly of Irishmen, offered the most heroic resistance. 
After a severe struggle our men gave way, and retired in 
great disorder. At this critical moment, foaming at his 
mouth with rage, and without his hat, General Cobb has- 
tened up, sword in hand, with his legion and renewed the 
attack. But the efforts of these troops were in vain. 
The brave Irishmen held their ground with a determina- 
tion which excited the admiration even of our own offi- 
cers." 

Porter's troops, exhausted by the long fight, threw 
themselves upon the ground to rest, while French and 
Meagher's heroic six thousand kept guard in front. 

Night gloomed over the awful field of death — a night 
of horrible darkness. The silence was no longer disturbed 
by the battle-thunder, but it was yet more agonizingly 
broken by the sounds of unutterable suffering. 

Colonel Estvan writes: "In bygone days I had been 
on many a battle-field in Italy and Hungary; but I confess 
that I never witnessed so pitiable a picture of human 
slaughter and horrible suffering." 

Lee in hot pursuit the next morning followed McClel- 
lan with his whole force, including the remnant of Pick- 
ett's brigade. 

There could probably never be a sadder commentary 
on the horrors of warfare than the true history of the re- 
treat of McClellan's army to the protection of the gun- 



1 84 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

boats on the James River. If any mind, possessed of a 
germ of humanity, could realize the terrors of that death- 
march, it would never again be able to contemplate the 
possibility of war without a shudder of revulsion. All 
the ambulances which could be obtained were filled with 
wounded, and those for whom there was no place were 
left to die upon the field or by the roadside, or to be car- 
ried off as prisoners. Gentle death, kinder far than life, 
came with each hour to relieve some sufferer of the pain 
which had become insupportable. Many, overcome by 
the heat, fell by the way, raving deliriously. 

At the White House the retreating army burned its 
stores to prevent their falling into the hands of the pur- 
suers. There was but little rescued from the flaming pile 
of Federal provisions, and the only prize which fell into 
the hands of the Confederates was a load of overcoats, 
which they stored away for cold weather. 

At Savage Station hundreds of barrels of provisions 
were piled up into pyramids and devoted to the flames. 
It was not so easy to get rid of powder and shells to pre- 
vent their being used against their former owners. They 
were put into a train of cars and fired and the cars sent 
on their flaming way, the powder and shells exploding 
and sending out the most brilliant pyrotechnic displays, 
like a traveling Fourth of July celebration. 

Here occurred perhaps one of the saddest scenes of 
the whole war, if in such a succession of horrors there can 
be any one event surpassing all the rest in sorrowfulness. 
It was here determined that the safety of the army re- 
quired the abandoning of the sick and wounded. It was 
not possible to convey them along that difficult march, 
halting by the way to fight the pursuers. Then followed 
parting of father from son, of brother from brother, of 
friend from friend, with no hope of any future meeting. 



GAINES'S MILL. I85 

In Richmond every hospital was filled with our 
wounded, and two hundred unfortunate sufferers taken 
by Colonel Estvan into the city were, in the first moments 
of confusion and dismay, obliged to be sheltered in an 
open warehouse until such time as the friendly doors of 
the private homes could be opened to supplement the 
overcrowded hospitals. 

As soon, however, as the good people of Richmond 
realized the sad condition of these brave men, who, in de- 
fense of the beautiful homes in the capital city, had suf- 
fered "hunger, thirst, heat, and faced death in its most 
fearful form," they were unsparing in their efforts to al- 
leviate their miseries and to give them every comfort 
within their power. 

This fight, the battle of Gaines's Mill, was altogether 
decisive of McClellan's change of base. The loss was 
heavy, and nothing but the courage and valor of Pickett 
and Anderson and their brave Virginians and South 
Carolinians could have won the fight. 

Hood's gallant Texas brigade distinguished them- 
selves upon the right flank of McClellan's position, but 
they did not pass over the bloody field. That attack in 
front at Gaines's Mill was made by George E. Pickett's 
and R. H. Anderson's brigades alone. 

General Longstreet, in a letter to General Robert E, 
Lee, written a year after the close of the war, says of this 
battle: 

There is one portion of our record as written that I should like cor- 
rected — the battle of Gaines's Mill. Your report of that battle does not 
recognize the fact that the line in my front, that is, the enemy's line, 
was broken by the troops that were under my orders and handling. A 
part of Jackson's command, being astray, reported to me just as I was 
moving my column of attack forward — Whiting's division — and I put it 
in my column of attack, as stated in my report. I think that you must 
have overlooked my report on this point, and have been guided by 



1 86 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Jackson's. Jackson knew nothing of the matter of my having his troops, 
I suppose, and merely made his report from riding over the ground after 
the battle. I presume that he was not within one mile of the division 
when I put it in, and had no idea of its whereabouts. General Whiting 
reported to me that he had lost his way, and did not know where to find 
General Jackson, and offered his troops if I had use for them. I was 
then moving to assault, and put Whiting in a little behind Pickett's 
brigade. The commands made the assault together, and broke the 
enemy's line. Anderson's brigade followed and secured it, the assault- 
ing columns being somewhat broken in making the charge. Just after 
breaking his lines the enemy made a severe attack, and would have re- 
covered his position, I think, but for the timely support of Anderson's 
and Kemper's brigades at this point. Another fact should not be lost 
sight of in this connection. A. P. Hill had made several formidable at- 
tacks at the same point, and had fought manfully against it for several 
hours, and though not entirely successful, he must have made a decided 
impression, and have injured the enemy as much as he was himself in- 
jured, and thus weakened the enemy's lines so as to enable us to break 
them. It is quite common to give those credit only who show results, 
but it frequently happens, as in this case, that there are others who 
merit as much who are not known by results — that is, who are not seen 
by others than those on the ground. 

General Pickett was severely wounded, and was kept 
out of the field until September of that year, when he 
joined his brigade at Martinsburg, Virginia, though even 
then he was unable to wear the sleeve of his coat upon 
that arm. 

Immediately upon his return to the field General 
Pickett was assigned to the command of a division, and 
on the lOth of October, 1862, was promoted major-general. 



CHAPTER XXJI. 
frazier's farm. 

General Pickett's severe wound necessarily obliging 
him to leave the field after the battle of Gaines's Mill, 
June 27, 1862, the command of Pickett's brigade devolved 
for a few days upon Colonel Eppa Hunton, of the Eighth 
Regiment, in spite of his ill health at that time. 

On the 30th of June the battle of Frazier's Farm (Glen- 
dale) was fought. It began with an artillery duel between 
Jackson and Franklin, during the progress of which Long- 
street's division was drawn up in line of battle, waiting for 
Jackson to cross the White Oak swamp, and for Huger 
to come up along the Charles City road. Jackson not be- 
ing able to cross the swamp, and Huger being detained 
down the road by Slocum's battery, they did not reach 
the field as expected. 

Hearing the sound of cannon toward the Charles City 
road, Longstreet supposed th^t Huger was approaching, 
and returned the supposed signal. This drew fire from 
the Federal batteries, which barely missed President Davis, 
who had come upon the field to consult with his generals. 
As the President was not prepared to take an active part 
in the fight, he was carried off with all possible speed to a 
place of safety. 

Colonel Jenkins, with his battalion of sharpshooters, 
being nearest the impetuous battery, was ordered to 
silence it. As half-way measures did not lie within the 
possibilities of the dashing Jenkins, he charged upon and 
captured the offending battery, and the battle was opened. 

187 



1 88 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Pickett's brigade, under command of Hunton, was 
brought up in line of battle, where it was exposed to a 
furious cannonade. Hunton becoming separated from 
his command because of exhaustion, consequent upon 
his feeble condition, Colonel John B. Strange, of the 
Nineteenth Virginia, took command, and under his leader- 
ship the brigade charged upon and captured a battery, 
which was afterward turned with good effect upon its 
former owners. 

Longstreet had been sustaining the attack of McCall, 
Sedgwick, Kearny, Slocum and Hooker, in the expecta- 
tion that Huger would attack the Federal right and Jack- 
son come up in the rear, while Hill was to bring fresh 
troops in support. As neither Jackson nor Huger ap- 
peared, Hill was called to relieve Longstreet, and together 
they held the ground until night came to close the con- 
test. 

McCall endeavored to recover his lost ground, but was 
separated from his command in the dusk, and was captured 
by the Forty-seventh Virginia Regiment, led by Colonel 
Robert Mayo. Longstreet says of this general: "He 
was more tenacious of his battle than any one who came 
within my experience during the war, if I except D. H. 
Hill at Sharpsburg." 

The next day, meeting Surgeon Maish, of McCall's 
division, who had remained upon the field to tend the 
wounded, Longstreet said: "Well, McCall is safe in 
Richmond, and if his division had not offered the stub- 
born resistance it did on this road, we would have captured 
your whole army. Never mind; we will do it yet." 

It was in this fight at Frazier's Farm, three days after 
the battle of Gaines's Mill, in which General Pickett had 
been wounded, that his only brother, his plucky, fear- 
less assistant adjutant-general, Major Charles Pickett, 



FKAZIER'S FARM. 1 89 

was almost fatally wounded. Though Major Pickett nar- 
rowly escaped death, and reported for duty at a period 
far in advance of the expectation of the most sanguine of 
those who knew of his terrible wound, he was made lame 
for life. 

Major Pickett and Captain W. Stuart Symington, aide- 
de-camp, volunteered on Hunton's staff for the finish of 
the seven days' fight, notwithstanding Pickett's order that 
both should report to him in Richmond, as members of 
his personal staff, which order they disobeyed. 

Captain Symington was the only officer who went into 
the battle mounted. His horse was shot seven times, and 
finally killed under him. 

For his brave and meritorious action in this battle at 
Frazier's Farm, Major Charles Pickett received not only 
the highest praise from his comrades, but favorable official 
mention from his ranking officers. In his report of the 
battle Colonel Strange says: 

I would also bring to your notice the name of Captain Charles Pickett, 
assistant adjutant-general, who acted with the most conspicuous gal- 
lantry, carrying a flag by my side at the head of the brigade on foot (hav- 
ing lost his horse) and urging forward — all the time forward — until shot 
down seriously wounded, and then begging those who went to bear him 
off the field to leave him and go to the front if they could not bear him 
off conveniently, but to leave him his flag, which he still held, and let 
him die there under its folds. 

"The battle the little major fought down at Frazier's 
Farm," the soldiers called it at the time, and they still 
cherish in their hearts the glorious memory of that bril- 
liant fight. 

Major Pickett was the best loved officer in the brigade, 
and every soldier there would willingly have followed 
him to death. 

Happily, the major did not die under the flag he so 



igO PICKETT AND HIS MEM. 

loved that death would have been welcome if sheltered 
by its folds. He yet lives to gladden the hearts of his 
comrades by the touch of his friendly hand and the sound 
of the voice which cheered them on to valiant deeds in 
the old heroic days. 

At the battle of Malvern Hill Pickett's brigade, with 
the rest of Longstreet's corps, was held in reserve. This 
was the last of the Seven Days' Battles, which had resulted, 
as General Lee, in his return of thanks to his army, July 
7, expressed it, in "the relief of Richmond from a state 
of siege; the rout of the great army that so long menaced 
its safety; the taking of many thousand prisoners, includ- 
ing officers of high rank; the capture or destruction of 
stores to the value of millions; and the acquisition of 
thousands of arms and forty pieces of superior artillery." 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

SECOND MANASSAS. 

Some one has said that the first battle of Bull Run gave 
such great satisfaction to the audience that an eiicore was 
demanded. The Federal government prepared for a suc- 
cessful repetition of the piece as first presented by assign- 
ing General Pope to the command of the newly formed 
Army of Virginia, thereby securing his services as lead- 
ing man, and appointing Halleck general-in-chief of the 
Federal armies, thus making him stage-manager. These 
preliminary arrangements were completed in the latter 
part of June, and near the close of August the cur- 
tain rose upon the second presentation of that martial 
drama. 

On the 22d of August, the dashing Stuart effected his 
bold ride around the lines of Pope, and secured the papers 
which revealed to Lee the intended movements of his op- 
ponent,* and Lee's line of march was modified in accord- 
ance with that information. He divided his army and 
sent part of it under Jackson to cut off Pope from Wash- 
ington. 

Pickett's brigade, under the leadership of Eppa Hun- 
ton, was a part of Longstreet's corps which held Water- 
loo Bridge against Pope while Jackson crossed the Rap- 
pahannock. Having safely passed the river, Jackson 

* Among the articles taken from Pope's tent was a sword, belonging 
to him. I have just this moment (November 24, 1898) laid my hand on 
this weapon — a reminder of Pope's boasts of prowess — in the home 
of my friend, Dr. J. B. Hodgkin, of Virginia. 

191 



192 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

encamped on the night of the 25th near Salem, and on 
the next day passed the Bull Run mountains through 
Thoroughfare Gap and in the evening was at Bristoe Sta- 
tion between Pope and the Federal capital. With him 
were the cavalry brigades of Robertson and Fitzhugh Lee, 
led by J. E. B. Stuart. From here he sent a detachment 
to capture supplies at Manassas Junction, taking posses- 
sion of a large number of prisoners, horses and tents, and 
great quantities of stores. All the supplies which could 
not be used were burned. A force which was sent to 
recapture them was repulsed, and their leader, General 
Taylor, mortally wounded. 

Jackson went on to Manassas Junction and left Ewell's 
division with the Fifth Virginia Cavalry at Bristoe Sta- 
tion, where they repelled a Federal attack. New troops 
arriving, it became evident that Pope had learned the 
situation and had directed his whole force against Jack- 
son. Ewell then drew back and rejoined Jackson at 
Manassas Junction and they withdrew west of the War- 
renton and Alexandria turnpike to unite with the ap- 
proaching force of Longstreet. 

On the 28th, the divisions of Hill, Ewell and Taliaferro 
halted near the old battle-field of Bull Run. The Fed- 
erals, moving down toward Alexandria, were attacked by 
Jackson and driven back. Among the wounded were 
Major-General Ewell, who lost a leg, and Brigadier- 
General Taliaferro. 

Longstreet had followed on after Jackson, being de- 
tained upon the way by demonstrations of Federal cavalry ,^ 
he having no cavalry with which to reconnoiter. When 
he reached Thoroughfare Gap he found it strongly de- 
fended, and was forced to fight his way through. 

At ten o'clock the next morning the Federal artillery 
opened upon Jackson's right, the design being to destroy 



SECOND MANASSAS. 1 93 

him before the arrival of Longstreet. When that ofificer 
reached the field he was placed on the right of Jackson. 
Pickett's brigade was on Longstreet's right, with the re- 
mainder of Kemper's division. It was one of the brigades 
supporting the advance of Hood and Evans, which re- 
sulted in the victory for that day, a piece of artillery, 
several regimental standards, and a number of prisoners 
being taken. 

The morning of the 30th was given to a heavy artillery 
combat between Colonel S. D. Lee, and the Federal artil- 
lery, in which Colonel Lee was as successful as he had 
been on the previous day. 

In the afternoon Pickett's brigade was a part of the 
force which received and repelled the onset of Fitz John 
Porter. In the magnificent charge which finally cleared 
the field and won victory for the Confederate arms, 
Pickett's men proved their valor as loyally as they had 
done when they followed their own leader, who was far 
away, his gallant soul chafing under the sad necessity 
which kept him off the field. 

Lee again sent Jackson to secure a position between 
Pope and the capital, but Pope, having foreseen this 
movement, fell back to Chantilly, where he was attacked 
by Jackson on the 1st of September. Here the Federal 
army lost the brilliant general, Philip Kearny, who rode 
within the Confederate lines and was shot in attempting 
to escape. 

Kearny had been a Chasseur d'Afrique in Algeria, 
where his bravery won for him the cross of the Legion 
of Honor. He had lost an arm at the siege of Mexico. 
He had fought with the French army in the battles of 
Magenta and Solferino, and had again received from 
Emperor Napoleon III. the decoration of the Legion of 
Honor, 

13 



194 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

He was an old comrade of Lee in the United States 
army, and the day after the battle the Confederate leader 
sent his body under a flag of truce to General Pope, 
thinking, as he said in a kind note, that it might be a con- 
solation to his family. 

Thus is the battle-field sometimes glorified by the 
gentleness of the truly chivalrous heart. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

ANTIETAM. 

General Lee, having won the second battle of Ma- 
nassas, pushed on into Maryland with his whole army, 
arriving at Frederick City on the 8th of September. The 
next day he issued Order No. 191, afterward known as 
the "Lost Order." 

This order directed Jackson to go through Sharpsburg, 
cross the Potomac, capture Martinsburg, and help take 
Harper's Ferry. Longstreet was to remain at Boonsboro 
with the trains. McLaws was to station his command on 
the heights of Harper's Ferry and capture the force in 
the town, assisted by Walker, and guarded in the rear by 
D. H. Hill. After these movements had been effected the 
commands were to meet again at Boonsboro or Hagers- 
town. 

This was a well-laid plan, and Lee had carefully pre- 
pared the order for the guidance of his own generals and 
not for the instruction of the Federal commander. A 
copy was sent from headquarters to D. H. Hill who, hav- 
ing been transferred to Jackson's command, received his 
order from the hand of his new chief. The copy which 
was intended for him served the useful purpose of a cigar- 
wrapper until it chanced to be left behind in camp, where 
it was found by a prowling Federal soldier. On the 
morning of September 13th it was placed in the hands 
of McClellan, and in the afternoon he was on the way 
to the pass in South Mountain on the Boonsboro and 
Fredericksburg road. 

195 



196 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Franklin's corps was ordered to pass through Cramp- 
ton's Gap and attack McLaws, thereby relieving Harper's 
Ferry, while Burnside, with the commands of Reno and 
Hooker were sent to Turner's Gap, the second of the two 
principal roads through the South Mountain. A North- 
ern writer has said of this movement that it "was quick 
for McClellan but not quite quick enough for the emer- 
gency." He did not reach the passes until the morning of 
the 14th, when Jackson was already knocking vigorously 
at the gates of Harper's Ferry, supported on the right by 
Walker and on the left by McLaws and R. H. Anderson, 
having sent A. P. Hill with his division to Martinsburg. 

Lee had learned of McClellan's movement and had or- 
dered Hill to guard Turner's Gap, supported by Long- 
street, who was recalled from Hagerstown for the pur- 
pose. On the long, hot march Longstreet had lost half 
his number from exhaustion. 

Pickett's brigade, led by General Garnett, had been 
marched and countermarched under conflicting orders 
until, after twenty-three miles of wearisome effort, it 
reached the battle, exhausted, having lost heavily on the 
way. It took position under a heavy fire of artillery 
which opened upon it as soon as it came in sight. Upon 
gaining its post it was immediately attacked by a force 
many times as great as its own. Under the fierce assault 
the left fell back. The right being unsupported, was 
forced to retire, when the contest was renewed in the 
rear, but the darkness prevented objects from being dis- 
tinguishable. As Jenkins advanced to the attack, Garnett 
was ordered to bring off his brigade. He had been in 
command only a few days. 

In his report Garnett says: "We have to mourn in 
this action many of our companions as killed and 
wounded, who go to swell the list of noble martyrs who 



ANTIETAM. I97 

have suffered in our just cause. It was my lot to be ac- 
quainted with but one of the officers who fell on this oc- 
casion, Colonel John B. Strange, Nineteenth Virginia 
Volunteers. His tried valor on other fields, and heroic 
conduct in animating his men to advance upon the enemy, 
with his latest breath, and after he had fallen mortally 
wounded, will secure imperishable honor for his name 
and memory." 

Captain Brown, of Colonel Strange's regiment, says: 
"In this engagement Colonel J. B. Strange fell, seriously 
wounded, and in the retreat was left behind. His voice 
was heard after he had received his wound, urging his 
men to stand firmly, and he commanded with that cool- 
ness and daring that is found only in the truly brave." 

In this contest at Turner's Gap the command of Reno, 
one of the finest officers on the Union side, met the 
brigade of our gallant and brilliant General Garland, and 
both leaders were killed. Among the wounded was Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, commanding the 
Twenty-third Ohio, who received a rifle-ball in his arm. 

The fight at Crampton's Gap between a part of Mc- 
Laws's forces with Stuart's cavalry and Franklin's com- 
mand had taken place at the same time. At nightfall 
Franklin's banner waved from the crest above Crampton's 
Gap, and Lee ordered the withdrawal of his troops from 
Turner's Gap and their removal to Sharpsburg. The 
battle was lost, but the delay suffered by McClellan in 
winning it had enabled Jackson to take possession of 
Harper's Ferry. At noon of the next day Lee received 
the following note from Jackson: "Through God's bless- 
ing. Harper's Ferry and its garrison are to be surren- 
dered." 

At that moment Lee resolved to stand and meet the 
enemy at Sharpsburg. 



198 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Had Lee made a battle-field for himself he probably 
could not have constructed a more desirable one than 
that which he had chosen. In the front was a gentle rise 
and fall like the graceful undulations of a sea in a calm. 
In the rear rose the hills, crest upon crest, as if nature in 
martial mood might have formed them with an eye to the 
location of artillery. Ridges swelled here and there, to 
afford hiding-places for reserves. The short line of the 
Confederates across the angle of the Antietam and Po- 
tomac facilitated reinforcement at any point. 

The sluggish little Antietam, coming down from the 
hills of Pennsylvania, is crossed by four stone bridges — 
the upper one on the Keedysville and Williamsport road; 
the second on the Keedysville and Sharpsburg turnpike, 
two and a half miles below; the third about a mile below 
the second, on the Rohrersville and Sharpsburg road; 
the fourth near the mouth of Antietam Creek, on the 
road from Harper's Ferry to Sharpsburg, three miles 
below the third. 

Lee's line of battle was ranged along Sharpsburg 
Heights, the cavalry and horse artillery near the eastern 
bend of the Potomac. Single batteries were posted along 
the line and below the crest of the heights, and the Wash- 
ington Artillery was on Longstreet's right. When Jack- 
son arrived from Harper's Ferry with his division and 
Ewell's, he was posted west of the Hagerstown turnpike. 
Walker was stationed with his two brigades to the right 
of Longstreet. 

When Pickett's brigade, led by Garnett, reached the 
field, it was posted under a heavy fire on the southeast of 
Sharpsburg in a hollow at the rear of the Washington 
Artillery to support some batteries. Here it was for some 
hours exposed to a severe fire of shot and shell, losing a 
number of its men. 



ANTIETAM. 199 

McClellan's advance was delayed by a meeting with 
Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry. When he reached the field he 
placed his batteries near the center and massed his corps 
on both sides of the Sharpsburg turnpike. Four batteries 
were on the height above Antietam at the right; on the 
crest near the third bridge, afterward known as the Burn- 
side Bridge, were Weed's and Benjamin's guns. Between 
these points were ten or more batteries. 

On the Hagerstown road was a chapel known as Dunker 
Church. West of this church Hood was placed to defend 
the road, supported by S. D. Lee's artillery, to the east 
and beyond the road. North of the church was a field of 
corn turning golden in the warm sunlight. All around 
grew the soft grass, green and beautiful, on the banks of 
the life-giving river. Beyond were the cool shades of the 
East Wood. On the west of the road was the West Wood, 
a towering forest of oaks. On the western side of the 
turnpike, its left sheltered by the West Wood, was the 
Stonewall division under D. R. Jones. 

McClellan's Ninth Corps under Cox was stationed with 
Burnside on the left at Burnside Bridge. Hooker, with 
the First Corps, was on the right. At two o'clock Hooker 
crossed the creek at Williamsport Bridge and attacked 
Longstreet's left brigades. As he advanced to the charge, 
his muskets flashing brilliantly in the last rays of the sun, 
he was received and repelled by Hood and the batteries 
of S. D. Lee. When the crossing of Hooker was reported 
to General Lee, he sent Jackson to command the entire 
battle of the left wing. 

At the East Wood Hooker's skirmishers met McLaw's 
veterans and were driven back to the edge of the wood. 
As they retired the curtain of night fell slowly over the 
scene and the soft rain descended, as if nature, with gentle 
hand, would wash away the stains of war. 



200 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The 17th of September, 1862, makes its crimson mark 
upon the page of history as the bloodiest day yet of the long 
struggle between North and South. Of the conflict which 
raged on the banks of the Antietam on that gloomy day 
McClellan telegraphed to Halleck: " We are in the midst 
of the most terrible battle of the war, perhaps of history." 

The little stream of Antietam, meandering drowsily 
between its grass-grown banks, started to sudden life with 
the tide of brave hot blood which flowed into it, and went 
rushing on its way to the sea as impetuously as if the 
blood of North and South were even yet waging tempest- 
uous warfare. 

In the night, McClellan had ordered Mansfield to cross 
by the upper bridge to support Hooker's attack upon 
Jackson. At early dawn the assault was made, assisted 
by Doubleday, who swept down the Hagerstown turnpike 
and struck the center of Jackson's division. 

Across the river, to and fro the guns hurled their deadly 
missiles, and space was filled with flying balls and frag- 
ments of shell, and heavy clouds of smoke, and the air 
was shivered with the thunderous reports. 

Jones, who led the Stonewall division, was wounded, 
and the command devolved upon Starke, who in a short 
time was killed. Grigsby sprang to the command, rallied 
the men, and dashed upon Doubleday, who retreated. 
The Federal lines were several times repulsed, but were 
heavily reinforced and flung themselves so impetuously 
upon Jackson that his forces fell back and took a strong 
post in the rear. 

The corn-field which had been so beautiful in the Sep- 
tember sun shook under the fearful storm that swept over 
it, and its promise of golden harvest went down forever 
under the rush of murderous feet. 

Lawton, leading Ewell's division, was wounded, and 



ANTIETAM 201 

most of the field-officers were killed or wounded. As 
Lawton was carried off the field, Hood's brigades came 
dashing up from the church, leaving their half-cooked 
breakfast to the tender mercies of the camp-fire. At the 
same time three of D. H. Hill's brigades came through 
the Confederate center and attacked Ricketts. 

Before this onslaught Hooker retreated to the protec- 
tion of his guns, leaving about one-fourth of his men on 
the field. Mansfield led out his two divisions in an effort 
to regain the ground which Hooker had lost. The battle 
in the corn raged anew and Mansfield went to swell the 
roll of the fallen. 

Early, who had taken the place of the wounded Law- 
ton, held the position left vacant by Jackson's division, 
which had been withdrawn at seven o'clock. Hood, 
who had returned to the field, joined with Early and held 
the ground under a heavy fire of a force far greater than 
their own. 

At half past eight Sumner crossed the Antietam and en- 
tered East Wood, followed by Sedgwick. As he turned with 
his six thousand toward the West Wood, he was met by a 
storm of shells from Stuart's guns and a shower of canister 
from Jackson's batteries.' Behind the ledges of rock stood 
Grigsby and his three hundred, and from their points of 
vantage they held Sumner in check until his way to de- 
struction was prepared. Hood's division had been shat- 
tered, but McLaws had reached the field and, with Ander- 
son and Walker, came to the support of Grigsby and 
Early, and Sumner was swept away in a storm of fire. 

This was followed by a heavy attack on the center, 
which was hurled back by G. B. Anderson and Rodes, of 
D. H. Hill's division, and part of Walker's command, with 
a few pieces of artillery. French's brigades took refuge 
behind the crest of a hill from which they kept up a des- 



202 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

ultory fire. An attack by Richardson was then repulsed. 
Through mistake, Rodes's brigade was withdrawn from 
position and the Federals took advantage of the gap thus 
formed to break through G. B. Anderson's line, Anderson 
being mortally wounded. General R. H. Anderson and 
General Wright were also wounded and taken from the 
field. 

The object of all this display by Hooker was to enable 
Burnside to effect a crossing at the Rohrersville turnpike, 
over the bridge since known as "Burnside's Bridge," op- 
posite the right wing of Longstreet. The western end of 
this bridge was held by Toombs with three Georgia regi- 
ments and one of Jenkins's South Carolina regiments, 
supported by batteries stationed among the trees. 

Upon this bridge Sturgis led a bayonet charge, sup- 
ported by a heavy cannonade, but was forced to retreat 
by the concentrated fire of Longstreet's gun and the rifles. 
There were just six hundred of Toombs's gallant riflemen, 
brave as the dashing six hundred who have charged down 
the highway of history ever since Balaklava, and four 
times they sent the storming party back across the east 
end of the bridge. There was a sheltered ford below the 
bridge, and Rodman's division made a double-quick charge 
across it and reached the west bank. This rendered the 
position at the bridge untenable, and a little later Burn- 
side's corps crossed the bridge and climbed the heights, 
attacking Longstreet and driving back the brigades of 
Drayton, Kemper and Garnett (Pickett's brigade). Jones's 
division broke and retreated to Sharpsburg. 

Burnside had been successful against Longstreet, but 
A. P. Hill came upon the field with three thousand four 
hundred men ready to descend upon Burnside's brigades, 
notwithstanding a march of seven hours, in which time 
they had made seventeen miles. A flood of fire poured 



ANTIETAM. 203 

from the batteries on the height and the Federals re- 
treated to their guns on the other side of the Antietam. 

When night brought silence to this terrible field of 
the Civil War, Mcintosh's battery, taken when A. P. Hill 
first arrived upon the scene, had been regained, and the 
ground lost by Longstreet had been recovered. 

When Pickett's brigade had been for some hours in 
rear of the artillery it was ordered forward to the crest of 
the hill to dislodge the Federal skirmishers and protect 
the artillery eastward. Shortly after, S. D. Lee's battalion 
took the place of the Washington Artillery, and the Fifty- 
sixth Regiment under Captain McPhail, Colonel William 
D. Stuart being ill, was sent back to protect the move- 
ment. 

When Burnside crossed the river the brigade again 
took position in front in a corn-field, the Fifty-sixth Regi- 
ment being recalled to the left wing of the main body. 
Here it opened fire on a large number of skirmishers and 
drove them back. 

From the woods of Antietam a moving wall of bayonets 
bore down upon the little band. Only two hundred of 
the gallant Virginians were left, but with two rifled pieces 
they bravely held their ground. After an hour of heavy 
work the right began to yield. A number of Federal flags 
were seen upon a hill in rear of Sharpsburg, the only ave- 
nue of escape. Garnett, seeing that his small force was 
in danger of being surrounded and captured, was forced 
to withdraw it, the Nineteenth under Major Cabell halting 
to protect a section of artillery. The brigade filed out 
from its position of peril and passed around to the north 
of the town. 

The battle had been fought and lost, but it could scarcely 
be said to have been won. It stopped, apparently be- 
cause both sides were too much exhausted to go on. Lee 



204 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

had gained advantages of position, and McClellan had 
lost very many men who would have been saved but for 
his sending his army out in detachments to be killed in 
detail, instead of subjecting Lee's army to that process, as 
he had previously claimed that he would do. He had 
held back all his reserves, he and Porter agreeing in the 
opinion that reserves are articles of luxury not to be 
utilized in the practical affairs of life. 

If the battle was indecisive from a military point of 
view, it had political significance of great importance. Lee 
withdrew front Maryla?id, a?id Lincoln^ in accordance with 
his previous announcement^ issued the EMANCIPATION 
PROCLAMATION. 



CHAPTER XXV 

REORGANIZATION. 

The Army of Northern Virginia had just returned from 
the first Maryland campaign, greatly reduced in number, 
and was falling back toward Winchester when Brigadier- 
General Pickett reported for duty at Martinsburg. This 
was in September, 1862, and the General was yet only able 
to wear his coat across the wounded arm and shoulder, 
which still caused him severe suffering. 

At Martinsburg a reorganization of the army was made. 
Pickett's and Kemper's Virginia brigades and Jenkins's 
South Carolina brigade were consolidated into a division 
and attached to Longstreet's corps. The command of the di- 
vision was assigned to Brigadier-General George E. Pickett. 
Brigadier-General Richard B. Garnett was assigned to 
Pickett's old brigade, and from this date its designation 
was changed to Garnett's brigade, and it became merged 
into the general record of Pickett's division. Under its 
new leader it well sustained its olden glory. 

In September, 1862, at Culpeper Court-house, Briga- 
dier-General Lewis Addison Armistead's brigade, which 
had heretofore belonged to Huger's division, was assigned 
to Pickett's division. This brigade had been engaged in 
the second day's fight at Seven Pines, in the battles of 
Malvern Hill and Sharpsburg, and had been with Lee's 
army in the first Maryland campaign. 

On October IQ, 1862, Brigadier-General Pickett was offi- 
cially promoted major-general, and permanently placed in 
command of Pickett's division. 

205 



;206 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

General Pickett's staff consisted of Major Charles 
Pickett, assistant adjutant-general; Lieutenant-Colonel 
Walter Harrison, assistant adjutant and inspector-general; 
Captain Robert Johnston, assistant adjutant-general, 
colonel of cavalry, i86i and 1862; Major Charles W. 
Chancellor, chief surgeon until 1863, when Major M. M, 
Lewis took his place. Major James A. McAlpine was 
medical inspector from 1864 to 1865. Major R. Taylor 
Scott was chief quartermaster; Major Horace W. Jones, 
chief commissary; Captain David Meade, Captain Thomas 
P. Wallace, Captain William B. Edmonds, assistant quar- 
termasters. 

Captain A. W. Williams was paymaster of division 
from 1864 to 1865. Captain W. Douglas Stuart was chief 
engineer officer; Lieutenant John S. Morson, assistant 
engineer officer; First Lieutenant Samuel G. Leitch, chief 
ordnance officer, 1862 to 1864; Captain Howe P. Coch- 
rane, chief ordnance officer from 1864 to 1865. 

Lieutenant Edward R. Baird, Robert A. Bright and 
W. Stuart Symington were aides-de-camp; Lieutenant L 
W. Gossett and F. W. Brooke, provost guard; Major Ray- 
mond Fairfax, chief pioneer corps; Captain Charles Floyd, 
assistant quartermaster and division sutler. 

The couriers and orderlies at headquarters were Messrs. 
Harrie Hough, chief clerk; Richard Avery, assistant chief 
clerk; Robert Hempston, Thomas R. Friend, James Ryals, 
Martin Van Buren Campbell, John E. Whitlock, and 
George Stultz, orderlies. 

Four batteries of field artillery, under command of 
Major James Dearing, were attached to Pickett's division 
near the time of the battle of Fredericksburg and followed 
it through the Suffolk campaign, Gettysburg, Newbern and 
Plymouth, until the summer of 1864, when it was detached. 
Its brilliant leader. Major Dearing, became brigadier-gen- 



RE OR GANJZA TION. 20/ 

eral of cavalry, and fell at the head of his brigade in a 
skirmish with a party of bridge-burners at the High 
Bridge a few days before the surrender — said to have 
been the last Confederate killed in the war. 

The oldest of these batteries was the Richmond-Fay- 
ette, named for Lafayette, who was visiting Richmond 
when the battery was formed, May 29, 1824. In acknowl- 
edgment of the compliment, he presented to his name- 
sake battery two brass six-pounders which he had brought 
to the United States during the Revolution. Colonel 
John Rutherford first led the company, and it was after- 
ward commanded, in 1861, at the opening of the war, by 
Captain Henry Coalter Cabell. In 1861 it went to the 
Peninsula under Colonel J. B. Magruder, being first engaged 
at Yorktown and opening the battle of Williamsburg. Its 
notable actions are too many to be named, but among 
them was its support of the ill-fated charge upon Cemetery 
Height at Gettysburg. Thirty-seven of its men were killed 
in action. It was known as the Macon battery, from 
Captain Miles C. Macon, who succeeded in command 
when Captain Cabell was promoted colonel of artillery, 
and who was killed in the last action in which his battery 
took part. 

The Hampden Artillery was also known as Caskie's 
battery, from its second leader. Captain William H. 
Caskie, who succeeded to the command at the end of the 
first year of service. It was organized in Richmond in 
1861, and mustered into service shortly afterward. Cap- 
tain Lawrence S. Marye being its commander. After 
many brilliant actions it was assigned to Pickett's division 
in March, 1863, and was with it in the charge at Gettys- 
burg. With horses at a hard gallop it led the charge upon 
Newbern, Captain Caskie, whose horse had been wounded, 
leading on foot, carrying a musket with which he did good 



208 PICKETT AND HIS MEN 

service. To replace his wounded horse, General Pickett 
gave him one which was captured on the field. After 
Captain Caskie's promotion in the spring of 1864, the bat- 
tery was led by Captain John E. Sullivan, under whose 
leadership it maintained its well-earned distinction. 

The Fauquier Artillery received this name from the 
circumstance of having been recruited in Fauquier County, 
Virginia. It was known as Stribling's battery, from its 
commander, Captain Robert M. Stribling. After many 
brilliant engagements with R. H. Anderson's South 
Carolina brigade and Kemper's Virginia brigade, and at 
Malvern Hill with Toombs's brigade, it repulsed a charge 
of cavalry at Turkey Island. For this action it received 
the compliment of special mention in the Federal reports 
for the precision and effect of its fire. In this engage- 
ment its guns were directed by Lieutenants Marshall and 
Carroll. After distinguished service with Stuart at Ma- 
nassas Plains, where it advanced in front of the infantry 
and supported a cavalry charge until the Federals were 
defeated, it was then attached to Dearing's battalion 
and accompanied General Longstreet to Suffolk where, 
being surrounded by an overwhelming force, it suffered 
the loss of many fine guns and the capture of its com- 
mander and his officers. After their exchange the battery 
was reorganized and equipped at Richmond and furnished 
with six Napoleon guns, and its next engagement was at 
Gettysburg in the cannonade of the third day which 
ushered in the final charge. Upon the promotion of Cap- 
tain Stribling, .Lieutenant Marshall succeeded him as 
captain. Under his command it was in many brilliant ac- 
tions until the surrender, when it went on to Lynchburg, 
destroyed its guns and disbanded. 

The Latham-Dearing-Blount battery was first Latham's 
battery, from its commander. Then it passed under the 



REORGANIZATION. 209 

leadership of Bearing and, upon his promotion, became 
Blount's battery, Captain J. R. Blount being its leader. 
It was organized in Lynchburg in 1861, and did good serv- 
ice at the first battle of Manassas, being said to have fired 
the first guns on that day. In 1862, it was in active service 
in the Peninsula, and supported Pickett's brigade with 
distinguished honor at Seven Pines and Gaines's Mill. In 
December, 1862, it was made a part of Dearing's battalion 
and attached to Pickett's division, serving in the expedi- 
tion to Suffolk and at Gettysburg, and in many subsequent 
engagements. It was neither captured nor surrendered, 
but pushed its way on to its native city of Lynchburg 
where it disbanded and destroyed its guns. 

On the first of November, 1862, Pickett's division was 
moved from Orange Court-house to Fredericksburg, where 
it was confronted with Burnside's Army of the Potomac. 
Here a brigade was formed for Colonel M. D. Corse, and 
became a part of Pickett's division. Colonel Corse had 
also previously commanded Pickett's brigade for a short 
time while Pickett lay wounded. 

Pickett's division at this time was about ninety-one 
hundred strong. The fate of many a brave man is yet to 
be recorded before these pages are finished. 

The colonels were — 

First Virginia: P. T. Moore, wounded at Bull Run. 
July, 1861, and promoted brigadier-general; Lewis B. Wil- 
liams, Jr., killed, Gettysburg, July 3, 1863; Frederic G 
Skinner, wounded and disabled, Second Manassas. 

Third Virginia: Roger A. Pryor, promoted brigadier 
general, 1862; Joseph Mayo, Jr., wounded, Gettysburg. 

Seventh Virginia: James L. Kemper, promoted briga 
dier-general in 1862, wounded at Gettysburg, major-gen 
eral in 1864; W. Tazewell Patton, killed, Gettysburg; C 
C. Floweree, 1863-65. 

14 



210 PICKETT AND HIS MEM. 

Eighth Virginia: Eppa Hunton, promoted brigadier- 
general, 1863; Norbourne Berkeley, wounded, Gettys- 
burg. 

Ninth Virginia: David Godwin; J. Owens, killed, 
Gettysburg; J. J. Phillips, wounded, Gettysburg. 

Eleventh Virginia: Samuel Garland, promoted briga- 
dier-general, and killed, Boonsboro, 1862; David Funsten, 
Maurice S. Langhorne, and Kirk Otey, all wounded. 

Fourteenth Virginia: James G. Hodges, killed, Gettys- 
burg; William White, wounded, Gettysburg. 

Fifteenth Virginia: Thomas P. August, wounded and 
disabled, Malvern Hill, 1862. 

Seventeenth Virginia: M. D. Corse, promoted briga- 
dier-general, 1862; Morton Marye, wounded and disabled, 
1862; Arthur Herbert. 

Eighteenth Virginia: Robert E. Withers, wounded and 
disabled, Gaines's Mill; Henry A. Carrington, wounded. 

Nineteenth Virginia: Armistead Rust, 1861; J. B. 
Strange, killed, Sharpsburg, 1862; Henry Gantt, wounded, 
Gettysburg. 

Twenty-fourth Virginia: Jubal A. Early, wounded, 
and promoted lieutenant-general; William R. Terry, 
wounded and promoted brigadier-general; Richard L. 
Maury, wounded and disabled, Drury's Farm, 1864. 

Twenty-eighth Virginia: Robert F. Preston, 1861; 
Robert Allen, killed, Gettysburg; William Watts, 1863-65. 

Twenty-ninth Virginia: Austin Moore; James Giles. 

Thirtieth Virginia: R. Milton Gary, 1861; Archy T. 
Harrison; Robert S. Chew. 

Thirty-second Virginia: Edgar B. Montague. 

Thirty-eighth Virginia: E. C. Edmonds, killed, Gettys- 
burg; George K. Griggs. 

Fifty-third Virginia: Harrison B, Tomlin, 1861; J. 
Grammer; William R. Aylett, wounded, Gettysburg. 



RE ORGANIZA TION. 211 

Fifty-sixth Virginia: W. D. Stuart, killed, Gettys- 
t)urg; William E. Green, wounded; Peyton P. Slaughter, 
wounded and disabled, Gaines's Mill. 

Fifty-Seventh Virginia: Lewis A. Armistead, pro- 
moted brigadier-general in 1862, killed at Gettysburg; 
E. F. Keene; J. B. Magruder, killed, Gettysburg; and 
C. R. Fontaine. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Pickett's generals. 

Brigadier-General Richard Brooke Garnett was born 
in Essex County, Virginia, in 1819. He was graduated 
from West Point in 1841, in the class which furnished 
the largest list of officers killed in action, six falling on 
the battle-fields of Mexico, and eight — among them the 
heroic Garnett himself — in the Civil War. 

Upon his graduation he was appointed second-lieuten- 
ant in the Sixth Infantry; served in the Florida war, in 
Nev/ Orleans, and San Antonio, Texas, on the frontier, 
and was stationed at Benicia, California, at the beginning 
of the war between the States. 

Feeling it his duty to serve his native State, he re- 
signed from the United States army, May 17, 1861. He 
was appointed brigadier-general in the Confederate army 
and served with Jackson in the Valley of Virginia. For 
a time he commanded the celebrated Stonewall Brigade. 

When the ammunition was exhausted at the battle 
of Kernstown, Garnett retired his brigade, thereby in- 
curring the displeasure of Jackson, who claimed that, 
but for Garnett's action, he could have won the battle. 
The offending officer was arrested and temporarily re- 
lieved from duty. The sensitive mind of the brave gen- 
eral, who was as courageous on the field as he was hon- 
orable in the performance of all the duties of a soldier's 
life, never recovered from what he regarded as a stigma 
upon his military reputation. This feeling was proba- 
bly, at least in part, the cause of his insisting upon 



PICKETT'S GENERALS. 21 3 

leading his brigade at Gettysburg when he was so ill as to 
be scarcely able to sit upon his horse. His magnanimity 
is attested by the fact that no more sincere a mourner 
followed the great leader "Stonewall" to his untimely 
grave than the man in whose heart still rankled the 
wound which would be healed only when the gallant soul 
had passed into that higher phase of life where all the 
hurts of this narrow existence pass away. 

Garnett commanded Pickett's brigade in the absence 
of its leader while wounded, and when Pickett was pro- 
moted to the command of a division the brigade was 
placed permanently under Garnett, who led it with dis- 
tinguished success, winning the respect and affection of 
ofificers and men. It was at the head of this grand old 
brigade that he rode down into the valley between the 
hills of Gettysburg, cheering on his men with all the en- 
thusiasm he had shown in his greatest vigor and health, 
to meet the death to which every true soldier looks for- 
ward as the crowning glory of a noble life. 

Brigadier-General Lewis Addison Armistead com- 
manded the second brigade of Pickett's division. He 
was born in Newbern, North Carolina, February 18, 1817. 

The son of an army officer, it was inevitable that he 
should enter West Point, from which he would probably 
have been graduated with most brilliant honors, had not 
his martial instincts so far overruled the discipline of that 
rigid institution as to result in the smashing of Jubal 
Early's head with a plate. Although it is not the avowed 
intention of that conservatory of war to repress the heroic 
soul, yet in this particular case it was deemed best that 
the belligerent instincts should be permitted to develop 
in a less restricted atmosphere, and so the scholastic 
career of the future Confederate leader was suddenly 
terminlted. 



214 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

In 1839 Armistead was appointed second-lieutenant in 
the Sixth Regiment of infantry, then in General Zachary 
Taylor's command. He served in the Florida war under 
his father, General W. K. Armistead, and in 1844 was 
promoted to a first-lieutenancy by President Tyler. He 
was brevetted for gallant conduct in Mexico, being at 
Chapultepec, as we are told, "the first to leap into the 
great ditch." 

At the opening of the Civil War he was a captain in 
the regular army. He resigned, was commissioned colo- 
nel, and placed in command of the Fifty-seventh Regi- 
ment of Virginia infantry. In 1862 he was made briga- 
dier-general and organized a brigade of infantry, which 
was assigned to Huger's division of Longstreet's First 
Army Corps. It was first engaged in the second day's 
fight at Seven Pines, where its brave general was espe- 
cially distinguished. In September, 1862, it was added 
to Pickett's division of Longstreet's corps. In his re- 
port of the battle of Malvern Hill, General Magruder 
says: "Brigadier-General Armistead held the line of 
battle in the wood which secured the field, and after 
bringing on the action in the most gallant manner by re- 
pulsing an attack of a heavy body of the enemy's skir- 
mishers, skilfully lent support to the contending troops 
in front when it was required." 

It was at the head of this brigade that he stormed up 
the deadly slope of Cemetery Hill, broke the Union lines 
and, with his hand resting on a Federal gun and the shout 
of victory on his lips, fell, as noble a sacrifice as ever 
sanctified a battle-field. 

Brigadier-General James Lawson Kemper was com- 
mander of the Third Brigade of Pickett's division. 

He was born in 1824, of a Virginia family whose his- 
tory dates back to the beginning of the eighteenth cen- 



PICKETT'S GENERALS. 21 5 

tury. He seems to have had no predilection for a war- 
rior's life, as he prepared himself carefully for profes- 
sional work. In 1847 he was commissioned captain of 
• volunteers by President Polk, and joined Taylor's army 
of occupation after the battle of Buena Vista, thus taking 
no active part in the war. He afterward served for a 
number of years in the political and military affairs of his 
State. 

On the 2d of May, 1861, he became colonel of volun- 
teers, and at Manassas took command of the Seventh 
Regiment of infantry. After the first battle of Manassas 
the regiment was joined temporarily to Early's brigade. 
Three days later it was assigned to Longstreet's brigade, 
afterward commanded by A. P. Hill. Under this com- 
mand Colonel Kemper with his regiment fought for nine 
successive hours at Williamsburg, capturing some pieces 
of artillery and four hundred prisoners. He was im- 
mediately after made commander of the brigade, and led 
it through the historic Seven Days. 

In the second battle of Manassas General Kemper 
commanded a division composed of several brigades after- 
ward in Pickett's division, and made so successful a move- 
ment that General Lee sent him a request to repeat it, 
thus assisting very greatly in the final success of that 
battle. He commanded his own brigade at South Moun- 
tain and Antietam. After the Maryland campaign Kemp- 
er's brigade was joined to Pickett's division. 

At Fredericksburg General Kemper with his brigade 
advanced under a heavy fire to unite with the troops on 
Marye's Heights. Early in 1863, he and his brigade were 
sent to North Carolina, returning to Pickett's division in 
front of Suffolk. 

General Kemper bravely led his brigade in the great 
charge on the last day of Gettysburg, and was carried 



2l6 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

out, never again to inspire his gallant warriors by his pres- 
ence on the field. He was afterward placed in command 
of the forces at Richmond, where he did good service, 
and in 1864 was promoted major-general. 

After the war, he most ably served the State of Vir- 
ginia as governor, and won in civic life laurels no less un- 
fading than he had gained in war. 

Brigadier-General Montgomery D. Corse was a native 
of Alexandria, Virginia, and a graduate of a military school. 

In 1846, he was elected captain of volunteers, and 
served in the war with Mexico. After the close of the 
war, he spent some years in California, and was captain of 
the Sutter Rifles in Sacramento. In i860, he organized 
the Old Dominion Rifles of Alexandria, and a battalion of 
volunteers, of which he was major. The infantry com- 
panies of this battalion were afterwards a part of the cele- 
brated Seventeenth Regiment of Virginia infantry, and 
Major Corse was made its colonel, leading it with distinc- 
tion at Manassas and the battles in that vicinity. 

He commanded Kemper's regiment in the second 
battle of Manassas, where he was slightly wounded. He 
was wounded while leading his regiment at Boonsboro, 
and again at Antietam, where he went into battle with 
fifty-six men and came out with seven. 

On November i, 1862, Colonel Corse was commissioned 
brigadier-general, and for a time was in command of 
Pickett's brigade. Soon after he was assigned to a new 
brigade made up of the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Thirtieth 
and Thirty-second Virginia regiments, afterward includ- 
ing the Twenty-ninth Virginia. It served with Pickett's 
division throughout the war, but being, unfortunately, 
detached from it and left at Hanover Junction in the 
campaign of 1863, the division was deprived of its assist- 
ance at Gettysburg. 



PICKETT'S GENERALS. 21/ 

Longstreet mentions the distinguished gallantry and 
skill of Corse while commanding a regiment at the battle 
of Frazier's Farm. He led his brigade brilliantly at Five 
Forks, was captured at Sailor's Creek, and remained a 
prisoner until some months after the close of the war. 

The dashing Micah Jenkins fought with great ability 
at Seven Pines, and brought on the battle of Frazier's 
Farm by leading his battalion of sharpshooters in a charge 
upon a battery, which he captured. He was afterward 
placed in command of a brigade which was incorporated 
into Pickett's division, and was held in reserve at Fred- 
ericksburg. Greatly to the regret of General Pickett, and 
the crippling of the division, he was left on guard-duty 
when Pennsylvania was invaded and the battle of Gettys- 
burg was fought. 

When General Longstreet was transferred to Tennessee, 
Jenkins, with his brigade of South Carolinians, was at- 
tached to Hood's division and accompanied him. He dis- 
played great skill in leading his command across Lookout 
Mountain after the attack upon Hooker's rear-guard. 

In the Wilderness he rode next to Longstreet and said: 
"I am happy; I have felt despair of the cause for some 
months, but am relieved, and feel assured that we will put 
the enemy back across the Rapidan before night." Scarce 
had the words left his lips when the party, mistaken for 
an advance of the enemy, was fired upon, Jenkins falling 
mortally wounded, and Longstreet being shot through 
shoulder and throat. 

Among those members of the division who distin- 
guished themselves in less prominent positions was Colo- 
nel Eppa Hunton of the Eighth Regiment. Colonel 
Hunton did not seem to find his long experience in por- 
ing over musty files in a law-office any obstacle to a gal- 
lant military career. By common consent of humanity, 



2l8 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

law-files are always regarded as "musty," though, as a 
matter of fact, it stands to reason that a new case must 
occasionally come into a law-office. 

He led Pickett's brigade for a time at Gaines's Mill 
when its commander was compelled by his wound to leave 
the field. Colonel Hunton being too ill to retain the com- 
mand, it devolved upon Colonel John B. Strange, of the 
Nineteenth Regiment. At Frazier's Farm, Colonel Hun- 
ton gave the order to charge, but as he was too weak from 
illness to keep up with the command it again fell to the 
direction of Colonel Strange, who led it with great ability. 
Colonel Strange was killed at South Mountain. 

Colonel Hunton was promoted brigadier-general in 
1863. He was among those who were so unfortunate as 
to be captured at Sailor's Creek, the last chapter in the 
history of Pickett's division. 

From 1872 until 1881, Colonel Hunton was a member 
of the United States Congress, and served upon the Elec- 
toral Commission. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

FREDERICKSBURG. 

After the battle of Antietam General Lee reorganized 
his army into corps and held them between the Potomac 
and Winchester through most of the month of October. 

On the 8th of that month General Stuart, of the cav- 
alry force, began his celebrated circuit of McClellan's 
army, leading three cavalry brigades across the Potomac 
and on to Chambersburg— the first invasion of the North. 
Stuart seriously disturbed the mental equilibrium of the 
Army of the Potomac, cut the telegraph-wires, so that 
annoying messages in regard to him might not be sent to 
his enemies, destroyed government depots, secured pro- 
visions, and returned to the south side of the river on the 
I2th, having made the entire round with a loss of but few 
of his men, who were slightly wounded in a skirmish with 
Pleasanton, 

On the 26th McClellan moved southward and crossed 
the river east of the Blue Ridge. Longstreet kept a cor- 
responding march on the south side, while Jackson 
guarded the passes. McClellan halted at Warrenton on 
the 5th of November, and Longstreet, with the divisions 
of McLaws, R. H. Anderson and Pickett, arrived at the 
same time at Culpeper Court-house. 

On the day that McClellan reached Warrenton orders 
were issued from Washington relieving him of command 
and appointing General Burnside as general-in-chief 
of the Army of the Potomac. Whatever the North may 
have thought of the change, the Southern leaders were 

219 



220 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

of the opinion that the removal of McClellan was fortu- 
nate for their cause. 

The Army of the Potomac, through all its disastrous 
career, had never lost faith in "Little Mac," as it fondly 
called him. If securing and retaining the confidence of 
his men is a proof of military ability, no American leader 
had ever been more fitted for his responsible position 
than was the commander whose requisitions upon the 
military department at Washington had won for his 
army the derisive title of "The Umbrella Brigade." 

It was with reluctance that General Burnside accepted 
an appointment which he had twice declined, and which 
would thrust upon him the arduous task of winning the men 
from their former idol, or ensure his failure. Subsequent 
events seemed to indicate that he had done well in twice 
declining, and might have done better by persisting in that 
course. However, we may give him credit for having 
been actuated by good motives, and regard his subse- 
quent career as one of the fortunes, or misfortunes, of war. 

Burnside prepared for an aggressive movement which 
might prove his metal and secure the good will of the 
nation and the army. He consolidated the six corps of 
the Army of the Potomac into three grand divisions of 
two corps each, the right under General E. V. Sumner; 
the center. General Joseph Hooker; the left. General VV. 
B. Franklin. He spent ten days in reorganizing and get- 
ting under control his dissatisfied army, who placed little 
confidence in his plans. Wearied by the slow prepara- 
tions of his predecessor for a forward movement which 
never took him anywhere, the administration at Washing- 
ton insisted upon knowing what the new commander pur- 
posed doing. In response to this demand, Burnside 
labored with such celerity that within two days from tak- 
ing command his plan was ready to be submitted. 



FREDERICKSBURG. 221 

This plan differed from that which Lee was expecting 
of him. The Confederate general had prepared to oppose 
a movement north of Culpeper Court-house. Burnside 
moved south, with the intention of crossing the Rap- 
pahannock near Fredericksburg and securing a position 
between Lee's army and Richmond, designing to cut off 
communication and prevent the Southern army from gain- 
ing access to their capital. On the 15th, he began to put 
this plan into operation, attempting to conceal it by a 
demonstration on Gordonsville. 

Lee was not thus to be deluded, and on the same day 
the Confederate outpost at Fredericksburg was reinforced 
by a battery of artillery and a regiment of infantry. On 
the 17th, Lee received information that the right division 
had gone south, led by General Sumner, and he ordered 
General W. H. F. Lee's cavalry to Fredericksburg. 

Fredericksburg is a small town, at that time of about 
five thousand inhabitants, situated on the south bank of 
the Rappahannock. It is north of Richmond, and about 
half-way between Richmond and Washington. Low ranges 
of hills extend along the river; on the north, they are 
close to and parallel with the stream; on the south they 
stretch backward from the river and inclose a plain six 
miles long and nearly three miles wide; above the river 
they rise boldly and present a rugged, unforested front; 
eastward they are lower and wooded, and spurs, covered 
with a growth of trees, run down to the plain. 

Had nature formed the design of creating an appro- 
priate location for a victorious army, she could have suc- 
ceeded no better than she did in her operations upon the 
south of the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg. In 
front were bold, bare crests, on whose natural ramparts 
artillery might be placed to hurl destruction upon the 
helpless plain below. On the flanks the woodland spread 



222 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

out its sheltering arms to screen troops from the fire of 
an attacking party. The hand of man had come to the 
assistance of nature in rearing this gigantic fortification, 
and had constructed, probably for some peaceful purpose 
now unknown, a road guarded by a stone wall. Behind 
this wall a force of musketry might be concealed, from 
which an incessant fusillade could be kept up, with no pos- 
sibility of an effective counter-fire. 

On the i8th, one of Longstreet's divisions under Mc- 
Laws set out for Fredericksburg, another under Ransom 
marching toward the North Anna. The next day, finding 
that the whole Union army was on the way to Fredericks- 
burg, Lee ordered the remaining divisions to go forward. 
On the 19th, Longstreet took possession of the heights 
of Fredericksburg, thereby securing an advantage which 
assured him the victory, those hills being invincible when 
well fortified. There was Longstreet on the 21st day of 
November, when General Sumner called Fredericksburg 
to surrender. 

In the meantime, Burnside had reached Falmouth, 
where he intended to cross. Here he was delayed by the 
fact that the bridges had been destroyed by heavy rains, 
and the pontoons which had been ordered from Washing- 
ton had failed to arrive, by reason of a mistake as to whose 
duty it was to send them forward, and the indifference of 
the commander-in-chief as to whether they went forward 
or not. While Burnside waited with what patience he 
might, Lee's army beyond the river busied itself in forti- 
fying the heights. 

On the 19th of November, Franklin and Hooker en- 
camped about ten miles from Falmouth on the northeast 
side of the river, Franklin at Stafford Court-house and 
Hooker at Hartwood, The Federal batteries, one hundred 
and forty-seven siege-guns and long-range field-batteries 



FREDERICKSBURG. 223 

were posted on Stafford Heights, a range of hills through 
which the Rappahannock flows a little more than a mile 
above Fredericksburg. 

On the opposite bank the brigade of McLaws was 
picketed. Lower down the river were extended parts of 
the divisions of R. H. Anderson and Hood, supporting 
Stuart's cavalry. The Confederate left was on Taylor's 
Hill on a level with Stafford Heights on the northern bank. 
General Longstreet rested on Marye's Hill, just south of 
Fredericksburg. 

On the crest of Marye's Hill was Colonel Walton's 
Washington Artillery, supported by a Georgia rifle regi- 
ment commanded by Colonel McMillan, an Irish oflficer. 
The batteries belted the height, tier upon tier, guarding 
the approaches to Fredericksburg. The sunken road be- 
low with its wall of stone, formed a defense for the hill. 

On the heights of Fredericksburg Lee, confident in the 
invincibility of his position, awaited with serenity the at- 
tack, surrounded by more than three hundred guns which 
looked menacingly down upon the foe from all nature's 
points of vantage. In the valley of the Massaponax River, 
near Hamilton's Crossing, General Jackson was stationed. 
To the rear of his left, in the valley of Deep Run, was 
Hood's division. Thus Fredericksburg was fortified be- 
fore the end of November, and the battle was won some 
three weeks before the first shot was fired. Looking down 
from the crest of the battery-encircled hill on the day be- 
fore the battle. General Longstreet's chief of artillery, 
Colonel Alexander, said: 

" We will comb it as with a fine-tooth comb. A chicken 
could not live on that field when we open fire." 

Now that the tables were so effectually turned, and 
Lee had made himself completely master of the field 
which Burnside had fondly regarded as his own, the 



224 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Federal commander might, from the point of view pre- 
sented by military prudence, have refrained from pushing^ 
his project. Urged on by a sense of what was required 
of him by popular opinion, and actuated by the thought 
of the demoralization which would follow a retreat before 
the first blow was struck, he persisted in crossing. 

On the evening of the 9th of December, he called a 
council of his commanders and stated his intention of mak- 
ing a direct assault upon Marye's Hill, which he called 
the key of the enemy's position. Though this assemblage 
included "Fighting Joe" Hooker, and Sumner, whose 
military ardor burned all the more fiercely as the winds 
of increasing winters fanned its flames, not one voice in 
the council gave assent. Those gallant veterans knew 
that the key to the Confederate position was held so 
tightly in the hand of its owner that any attempt to turn 
the lock could result in nothing but disaster to the daring 
marauder. 

At three o'clock on the morning of December ii, the 
heavy roll of cannon from Marye's Hill aroused the Con- 
federate army to the fact that the Federals were about 
to cross the river. D. H. Hill's division and the Second 
Corps took position along the woodland over Hamilton's 
Crossing. Barksdale's Mississippians and three regiments 
of R. H. Anderson's division protected the river line. The 
curtain of mist that hung between the opposing armies 
was not so heavy but that Barksdale's sword of flame 
could pierce it, and soon the passage of the Federals was 
suspended. 

Marye's Hill possessed a fatal fascination for Burn- 
side, and he persisted in crossing under its frowning crest 
instead of seeking a safer place to effect the passage. In 
the hope of dislodging the Mississippians he ordered the 
bombardment of Fredericksburg. About the middle of 



FREDERICKSBURG. 225 

the day the linc^ering purple mist grew flame-red, and the 
two armies knew that the town was on fire. 

Not until three regiments had gained the Confederate 
side of the river in the boats that had not yet been made 
a part of the bridge, and had driven back the Mississip- 
pians, could the bridges be finished and the army set 
across, having suffered heavy loss from Lee's sharp- 
shooters. The Confederate general had no desire seri- 
ously to impede the passage of Burnside's army, having 
been waiting for some time to give it a hospitable recep- 
tion, but he had no objection to making his presence felt 
in the meantime. 

Not even yet satisfied by the advantage which cir- 
cumstances and the blunders of his adversary had given 
to Lee, Burnside still further strengthened the Con- 
federate position by remaining inactive for about forty- 
eight hours, during which the forces upon the heights were 
effectively massed. 

For two days the Confederate army had been ready 
and waiting for the attack. On the night of the I2th, 
General Jackson had concentrated his divisions on the 
field and the whole army was now for the first time on the 
ground. On the afternoon of the I2th, A. P. Hill had 
relieved Hood at the woods near Hamilton's Crossing, 
Hood was stationed on the heights between Deep Run 
and Hazel Run, and Pickett's division took position at the 
foot of the hills between Hazel Run and the Telegraph 
Road, which extends across the plain and leads to Rich- 
mond. Pickett's command was under arms, waiting for 
orders. McLaws's and Anderson's line was reinforced by 
Ransom, and Cooke's brigade was at the left of the stone 
wall. Taliaferro's brigade formed a line behind A. P. 
Hill. 

D. H. Hill and Ewell arrived at dawn, having marched 

16 



'^ 



226 PICKETT AMD HIS MEN. 



the whole of the night of the I2th. D. H. Hill was placed 
on the right, behind Taliaferro. Ewell took position with 
his right in front of Hamilton's Crossing. The Second 
Corps, in the valley of the Massaponax, was supported 
by Stuart with eighteen pieces of artillery. 

On the morning of the 13th, the mists had risen from 
the river and lay, a heavy purple veil, over the valley of 
Fredericksburg. Through its dense folds no eye of friend 
or foe could look. Nature had put on her mourning veil, 
prophetic of the bloody day that was to follow. 

Through the heavy curtain Meade's division at half past 
eight, supported by the other two divisions of the corps 
under Gibbon and Doubleday, moved in the direction of 
Jackson. Their march was slow, being delayed by their 
ignorance of the ground, which was broken by ravines. 
Through the dense fog the commands of the opposing ofifi- 
cers were distinctly heard, crossing as on a cloud bridge 
between the terraced heights on which the Confederates 
were stationed and the plain where the Union army was 
struggling through the mist curtain to its doom. 

At ten o'clock, the fog lifted, and Stuart's cannon from 
the plain of Massaponax was turned full upon the solid 
ranks of Meade's division, compelling it to halt until 
Meade's artillery could repel the fire. While the artillery 
duel went on, Meade advanced and gained some ground, 
but the gallant defense of Early, combined with the rem- 
nant of A. P. Hill's command, forced him to retreat. 
Jackson's line had engaged with Meade, and Pickett, re- 
garding this as the signal for an advance of his division 
in conjunction with Hood's, went to that leader and rep- 
resented that the time had arrived, as provided for before 
the action began, but Hood was slow in taking that view 
and the opportunity was lost. 

While the battle was raging around the woodland near 



FREDERICKSBURG. - 22/ 

Hamilton's Crossing, a still more bloody struggle was tak- 
ing place on the height opposite the town. When the 
mist that had filled the valley with evanescent beauty 
cleared away, Burnside, from his headquarters beyond the 
river, looked across to the fair object of his ambition, 
Marye's Hill. As the last purple wreath of mist floated 
gracefully upward in the soft breeze, the brilliant rays of 
the sun struck blinding flashes from the long gleaming 
lines of bayonets far up on the ramparts of the hill. From 
its triple terraces circle upon circle of Confederate guns 
looked down menacingly upon the valley. 

The mist has quite left the vale; it no more hangs like 
a circling mantle of love about the heights to guard it 
from the ravages of opposing armies. For a moment 
Marye's Hill stands silent, majestic, bathed in the light 
of the sun. Then a cloud drifts slowly up from its in- 
trenched terraces and rises to its summit where it rests 
like an opal crown with sapphirine tints glinting through. 
It is not the mist; that has floated away forever. It hangs 
ominously over the stately head of Marye's Hill. It is 
the first greeting of Walton's batteries to the Union sol- 
diers massed in the town below. 

Will Burnside heed the warning? "Whom the gods 
wish to destroy they first make mad." From the head- 
quarters of the Army of the Potomac, beyond the peaceful 
river rippling on its silvery way in the light of the sun, 
came the signal for the first movement in one of the mad- 
dest, bravest, most reckless, most daring, and most hope- 
less charges that ever threw a blood-stain across the pages 
of the world's history. 

Under the consuming flame which flashed forth from 
all the batteries of McLaws, French's columns dashed to 
the assault, cut through and through by cannon-ball until 
they reached within the range of musket-shot, when the 



228 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

infantry opened fire upon them, a man falling for every 
shot that sped its way through the battle-charged air. 

From Stafford's Heights Hunt's artillery was trying to 
stop the storm of shot and shell from Marye's Hill, but in 
vain. After a futile effort he silenced his own guns lest 
they destroy friend instead of foe. The assaulting party 
could not pass beyond the deadly rain that showered upon 
them from the musket-lined stone wall that guarded the 
ramparts of the hill. They retired, leaving one-third of 
their number on the ground, and three Union flags to mark 
their furthest advance line and flutter out upon the smoke- 
filled air a mute call for support. 

Up the steep and slippery heights rushed Hancock's 
men, led by their commander, their eyes fixed upon the 
stars on the blue field of their banner, shining down up- 
on the dead. From every cannon-crowned rampart of 
Marye's Hill a storm of shot and shell burst upon them, 
covering the valley with slain. 

Meagher's Irish brigade dashed out from Fredericks- 
burg and formed in the deadly rain from the batteries 
on the crested heights. A correspondent of the London 
Times, watching the battle from the hill, and writing after- 
ward from Lee's headquarters, says of the gallant brigade 
of the heroic sons of Ireland: 

Never at Fontenoy, Albuera, nor at Waterloo, was more undoubted 
courage displayed by the sons of Erin than during those six frantic 
dashes which they directed against the almost impregnable position of 
their foe. . . . The bodies which lie in dense masses within forty 
yards of the muzzles of Colonel Walton's guns are the best evidence of 
what manner of men they were who pressed on to death with the daunt- 
lessness of a race which has gained glory on a thousand battle-fields, and 
never more richly deserved it than at the foot of Marye's Heights on the 
13th day of December, 1862. 

In his official report Meagher says: "Of the one 



FREDERICKSBURG. 229 

thousand and two hundred I led into action, only two 
hundred and eighty appeared on parade next morning," 
Speaking of the character of the Irish as soldiers, Gen- 
eral Lee says: " Cleburne, on our side, inherited the intre- 
pidity of his race. On a field of battle he shone like a 
meteor in a clouded sky. As a dashing military man, he 
was all virtue; a single vice did not stain him as a warrior. 
His generosity and benevolence had no limits. The care 
which he took of the fortunes of his ofificers and soldiers, 
from the greatest to the least, was incessant. His integ- 
rity was proverbial, and his modesty was an equally con- 
spicuous trait in his character. Meagher, on your side, 
though not Cleburne's equal in military genius, rivaled 
him in bravery and in the affections of his soldiers. The 
gallant stand which his bold brigade made on the heights 
of Fredericksburg is well known. Never were men so 
brave. They ennobled their race by their splendid gal- 
lantry on that desperate occasion. Though totally routed, 
they reaped harvests of glory. Their brilliant, though 
hopeless, assaults on our lines excited the hearty applause 
of our ofificers and soldiers." 

It has been estimated that on that portion of the plain 
over which the Union forces charged upon the heights 
of Fredericksburg the killed and wounded, on the night 
of the 13th, averaged a thousand to the acre — one out of 
every twenty being a soldier of the Irish brigade. 

For the first time the Irish brigade went into battle 
unsheltered by the flag of Erin, that has waved over 
deeds of Irish heroism on the battle-fields of every nation 
on the globe, the Twenty-eighth Massachusetts being the 
only regiment that bore the national colors. The flags 
of the other regiments had been sent to New York, that 
their tattered folds might be cherished in sacred memory 
of Gaelic virtue; a new set of colors had been provided 



230 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

by a number of Americans, in testimony of their apprecia- 
tion of the gallant sons of Erin, but had failed to arrive 
in time for the battle. Meagher, however, would not 
permit his men to go into action unguarded by the color 
sacred to their own dear Emerald Isle, so he placed in his 
own cap a sprig of evergreen and each man followed his 
example. 

In the attack of Howard's division the Confederate 
commander. General Cobb, was killed. At the same time 
General Cooke was seriously wounded. Ransom's brigade 
came to the relief of Cooke's; McLaws sent Kershaw to 
the assistance of Cobb's troojDS. Pickett and the troops 
posted at the south angle of Marye's Hill were keeping 
up a lively fire with Sturgis and Getty, who were also sub- 
jected to a cross-fire from Hood and McLaws. 

The battle which had been practically won weeks be- 
fore when Longstreet first posted his men on Marye's 
Hill was now dedicated to the Confederates by a chrism 
of fire, but Burnside would not believe it. From beyond 
the river he viewed the contest, ignorant of the ground, 
knowing nothing of the insurmountable obstacles to a 
successful attack on the height, and unv/illing to believe 
what was told him by those who had survived the attempt, 
saying to Hooker: "That crest must be carried to- 
night." Hooker knew that it was impossible, and Han- 
cock, French and the other officers, including the fiery 
Sumner, agreed with him, but Burnside had determined 
upon another assault, and was immovable. 

For the first time in his military career " Plighting Joe" 
was averse to living up to the soubriquet which he had 
won by gallant deeds on the field. Resolved upon saving 
his men, if possible, and at least throwing off the responsi- 
bility for their sacrifice, he adopted the strong measure of 
making a personal appeal to the commander of the Army 



FREDERICKSB URG. 2 3 1 

of the Potomac. Pleasanton saw him ride up on his white 
steed, and said that when Hooker dismounted he was the 
maddest man he ever saw; he made the air blue with ad- 
jectives. Burnside, bent upon self-destruction, would not 
yield, and Hooker went back with the old order ringing 
in his ears: "That crest must be carried to-night." 

In the fast-falling shadows of the night Hooker began 
a fire of artillery, hoping, as he said, to make "a hole suf- 
ficiently large for a forlorn hope to enter," with no more 
impression "than if it had been made against a mountain 
of rock." 

The Confederate artillery on the crest had ceased firing 
through failure of ammunition. 

At sunset Humphreys with four thousand men pushed 
onward, ignorant of the sunken road before him, where 
a line of infantry four deep was ranged, protected from 
view and from attack by the stone-lined road, A short 
distance from this road the Union column fell before a 
solid sheet of flame and bullets that burst forth from 
the Confederate front. And there, before Marye's Hill, 
were piled the Union dead and wounded. Hooker ob- 
serves with grim sarcasm: "Finding that I had lost as 
many men as my orders required, I suspended the at- 
tack." 

In making this assault, Hooker knew that he was 
violating one of Napoleon's most important rules of war- 
fare, " Never do anything which the enemy wishes you to 
do," as, in addition to having learned Lee's wishes by a sad 
experience, he, Burnside, and Sumner had all been in- 
formed that morning of the desire of Lee in regard to the 
attack. Being under orders, he could do nothing but 
push on. 

It had taken Burnside less than ninety days to plan 
and lose the battle of Fredericksburg, to efface the glory 



232 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

of his own military career, and to project a yet further 
assault upon the victorious Confederates, which would 
have resulted in a demoralization of the Army of the 
Potomac from which it would probably never have re- 
covered. Fortunately for him and the North, the strong 
opposition of his generals prevented his carrying into 
effect this crowning blunder, which he had carefully 
planned for the 14th. 

Longstreet has said: "They fully expected Burnside 
would renew the battle the next day. They knew that 
another day would nearly ruin the Army of the Potomac. 
If Burnside would attack such a strongly fortified posi- 
tion, it was reasonable to suppose that he would repeat 
his folly the next day." 

This would seem to indicate that Lee and his generals 
had a realizing sense of the military acumen of their ad- 
versary. 

Lee himself was too astute to leave his strong position 
and descend to the open plain to attack upon a level a 
beaten foe who might suddenly change from conquered 
to conqueror, so the two armies watched each other in 
sullen silence until the night of the 15th, when the Army 
of the Potomac recrossed the river. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

"dogs of war" in leash. 

Pickett's division was composed of Garnett's, Armi- 
stead's, Kemper's and Corse's Virginia brigades, and Jen- 
kins's (formerly R. H. Anderson's) South Carolina brigade. 

The division, as a division, was on a field of battle for 
the first time December 13, 1862, at the battle of Fred- 
ericksburg, where it held in reserve the center of Long- 
street's corps and, though it was eager and impatient to 
be allowed to take part in the fight, it was never fully- 
reached. 

General Longstreet gave instructions to his division 
commanders, Pickett and Hood, simply to hold their 
ground in defense, unless they should see an opportunity 
to attack the enemy while engaged with A. P. Hill on 
the right. 

Pickett saw this opportunity when Franklin's column 
advanced on the extreme right just a little bej^ond their 
front, thus leaving the enemy's flank open, and, pointing 
it out to Hood, suggested that it was the opportune time, 
and that they should at once turn their forces upon 
Franklin's column in the open field through which they 
were forced to pass. 

General Pickett in person made the suggestion to 
Hood, pointing out the advantages of the movement, and 
the eagerness of the men in leash to be allowed to take a 
part, and urged that they should avail themselves of the 
optional privileges of the directions left them by Long- 
street. Hood perfectly agreed with Pickett as to the op- 

233 



234 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

portuneness and advantages of the attack but, being more 
cautious and chary of assuming responsibility than Pickett, 
insisted upon first sending a brief of their intentions to 
General Longstreet, who was with General Lee in another 
part of the field watching the progress of the battle, ask- 
ing him if, in the detailed circumstances, they should not 
at once push in with their divisions. Any delay at such 
a moment was, of course, disastrous, and before the as- 
sent of General Longstreet was obtained and the order 
given the opportunity was lost. 

The strength of the division at the time of its forma- 
tion was about nine thousand, though only a part of one 
brigade of the division (Kemper's) was actively engaged 
in this their first battle as a division — the battle of Fred- 
ericksburg. The casualties of the battle, as a division, 
were of course trifling, but enough, alas, to make many a 
heart ache, many a hearthstone desolate. About forty- 
seven wounded, dead and dying were found near the 
"stone fence" at Marye's Hill. 

The fearless Federal commander, Burnside, was bold, 
determined and fierce in his attack, and had he been drawn 
still deeper into the toils which had been set for him on 
this field of battle by our General Lee, it is more than 
probable that his whole army would have been destroyed. 
General Lee's position was so strongly and so thoroughly 
protected that General Burnside's attack was repulsed 
with great loss at every point. Only a portion of Lee's 
first line, near Hamilton's Crossing, was driven back by 
Franklin's daring assault upon it, but even that ground 
Lee at once recovered. 

Pickett's division remained bivouacked in the rear, 
picketing the Rappahannock River below Fredericksburg. 
Then it was removed to the left to meet Burnside's at- 
tempted crossing at Banks's Ford. 



"DOGS OF WAR" IN LEASH. 235 

In the early part of February, 1863, it started out on 
Longstreet's expedition to Suffolk, Virginia, and North 
Carolina, marching to Richmond and thence to the breast- 
works around Petersburg, where it made but a short stay, 
and then pushed ahead to further the end conceived by 
the wise, practical brain and great tender heart of Old 
Peter, their stern but humane commander, to procure food 
for his men. 

It was hard winter weather, cold, inclement and trying, 
and during their continued march of ten days the ground 
was covered with sleet and snow. Hundreds of the men 
were without shoes, blankets or hats. Many were shod 
with improvised moccasins of raw beef-hide. The wives, 
mothers, sisters and friends of Pickett's men could scarcely 
have recognized in these bedraggled, muddy, ragged men 
the trim, dainty soldier-boys whom they had sent out from 
their homes to win fame and glory two years before, dressed 
then in their new uniforms, with shining equipments, with 
knapsacks and haversacks well stuffed by loving hands, 
and almost every man taking with him cook and valet. 

They had won fame and glory beyond the most san- 
guine conception, and that they were heroes and warriors, 
showed in their will-power and endurance, in the moral 
firmness with which, without halt or straggling, they 
passed through Richmond and all along the lines of their 
homes, receiving the cheers and hurried greetings of their 
many relatives and friends whom they had not seen for 
months and might never see again. 

Even now they could give to those dear ones only a 
fleeting recognition from the ranks, a passing smile of 
grateful thanks for the loving note, the flower, or the piece 
of bread and meat which was hastily thrust into their 
hands as tramp, tramp, tramp, they marched away once 
again from home and friends. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

FORAGING EXPEDITION — SUFFOLK. 

Knowing the needs of his men, and having their com- 
fort at heart, Longstreet called to mind that Dalgetty, 
the prince and prototype of the military Bohemian, as- 
signed the highest place in the soldier's scale to " rations." 
When proof beyond peradventure was brought to him 
that, stored away in the northeastern counties of North 
Carolina, were large quantities of corn and bacon, he may 
have remembered the "lean and hungry Cassius." He 
may have surmised that, the record of history to the con- 
trary notwithstanding, the Romans conquered the world 
because they were generous feeders; that Napoleon lost 
Waterloo because of an empty, aching stomach; that the 
rice of the Hindoos and the potato of the Irish could not 
fight against roast beef. 

Longstreet determined that, if it was possible, he 
■would procure for his half-fed Confederates these tempt- 
ing provisions. After mature deliberation, he planned to 
make a strong demonstration against Suffolk, Virginia, 
and at the same time to send troops into North Carolina, 
and wagon-trains to procure and bring out these coveted 
supplies, even though the price should be blood. 

With that end in view, Pickett's and Hood's divisions 
of Longstreet's corps had been detached from the Army 
of Northern Virginia, leaving McLaws's division, also of 
his corps, behind at Fredericksburg with General Lee. 
Hood's division and Jenkins's brigade of Pickett's division 
went to Suffolk direct. Armistead's and Corse's brigades 

236 



FORAGING EXPEDITION— SUFFOLK. 237 

of Pickett's division went via the James River and the line 
of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad toward Suffolk. 
Bearing's artillery, which was attached to Pickett's divi- 
sion, and all the available artillery around and about 
Petersburg were sent to Suffolk direct. Garnett's and 
Kemper's brigades went on separate expeditions into 
eastern North Carolina. 

Suffolk, a small town established by law in 1742, was 
burned by order of Sir Henry Clinton in 1779. It is on 
a line of railroad, and is about eighteen miles from Nor- 
folk and eighty-five from Richmond. It has a consider- 
able share of the commerce of North Carolina. All of that 
section of the country was in quiet possession of the Fed- 
eral forces at the time of Longstreet's expedition, and had 
been since the capture of Roanoke Island by the Federals 
and the abandonment of Norfolk and Suffolk by the Con- 
federates. The Confederate lines extended only to the 
Blackwater River on the east, where a small body of Con- 
federate troops was stationed to keep the Federal force 
in check. 

Longstreet's strategical maneuver was a great success 
and benefaction to the country, and was accomplished 
thus: 

In March, 1863, he threatened Suffolk in front, and 
kept its garrison so successfully within their own strong 
works, almost without any material opposition, that he 
took out and carried off wagon-train after wagon-train of 
corn and bacon. There was no distinct battle fought, and 
no prolonged engagement during this foraging expedi- 
tion, though all through the entire period there was a great 
deal of heavy skirmishing, and frequent sallies from time 
to time were made by the Federal force from Suffolk, but 
they were always driven back with heavy loss. 

The price of the bacon and corn for the Gray was the 



23S PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

blood of the Blue and the Gray, yet who can say that it was, 
under the circumstances, unnecessarily high? There are 
many functions of civilized life which can be postponed 
to more convenient occasions, but dining is not one of 
them. If it be true that the soul of man, as some philos- 
ophers assert, is located in the stomach, how few will be 
lost through the voluntary neglect of this tabernacle of 
the Holy Ghost. 

The Confederate loss in officers and men was consider- 
able, but the saddest loss, saddest because it seemed so 
unnecessary, was the loss of the Fauquier Artillery (Strib- 
ling's battery) attached to Pickett's division. 

The battery had been detached by the order of General 
French, commander of artillery, and placed in an old 
earthwork on the Nansemond River far in advance of our 
lines, situated on a point of land unprotected in the rear. 
The battery was supported only by two small companies 
of infantry. 

Two gunboats of the Federals attempted to run by this 
battery, one of which was sunk and the other driven away. 
The Federals made no other attempt to pass, but for two 
days and nights kept up a heavy and incessant fire from 
their gunboats and land batteries. Under cover of this 
fire they landed three of their regiments in the rear of the 
isolated and indefensible position. After a fierce resist- 
ance the gallant little Confederate band, cut off and over- 
whelmed, f.ghting hand to hand at the guns, were all either 
killed or made prisoners, except the drivers with the bat- 
tery horses under Lieutenant Carroll, who, being some 
distance in the rear, managed to make their escape. 

The battery was one of the finest in the service, having 
been captured by us from the Federals. It consisted of 
five magnificent guns — three brass Napoleons and two 
twenty-four pound howitzers, all of which were recaptured. 



FORAGING EXPEDITION— SUFFOLK. 239 

Captain Stribling was in no way responsible for the sacri- 
fice of his men or the loss of his battery. He simply 
obeyed the orders of his commander, General French. 

On the 4th of May, General Longstreet, the old "War- 
horse of the Confederacy," or "Old Peter," as he was 
more commonly called, having successfully accomplished 
the object of his maneuver, and secured quantities of 
meat and grain even beyond his most sanguine expecta- 
tions, quietly withdrew his whole force from Suffolk, So 
stealthily was this done that our soldiers were across 
Blackwater River before the Federal troops were aware 
that we had gone. 

Hood's division was hurried on from Blackwater River 
by rail to rejoin Lee's army, who had just gained a vic- 
tory at Chancellorsville. Pickett's division had orders 
to follow, when information was brought that raiding cav- 
alry was passing down the south side of James River en 
route to Suffolk, and a peremptory order came to Pickett 
to proceed by the Jerusalem plank road to Petersburg 
with three brigades of his division and intercept the riders. 

With that end in view the division, with the exception 
of Jenkins's brigade which, much against General Pickett's 
will, was left on the Blackwater River, marched to Peters- 
burg. The report was false. There was no cavalry raid. 
Pickett's division, without Jenkins's brigade, marched 
through Petersburg and on to Richmond, to rejoin the 
Army of Northern Virginia at Culpeper Court-house. 

On the 1st of June, 1863, after four months of hard- 
ship, marching all the way, going and coming, three 
brigades of Pickett's division were on nearly the sam.e 
ground they had left in the winter. Almost immediately 
afterward they started on that disastrous Pennsylvania 
campaign. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

CHANCELLORSVILLE. 

The military star of the Federal commander, Burn- 
side, had gone down in the sea of blood that followed the 
reckless and fatal charge upon the heights of Fredericks- 
burg. Two days after the sun had set on what the cor- 
respondent of WvQ Lo?ido?i Times C3.\\&d that "memorable 
day to the historian of the decline and fall of the Ameri- 
can Republic," the Army of the Potomac recrossed the 
Rappahannock, alleged to be defeated, broken, spiritless. 

After the battle desertions became startlingly numer- 
ous. The soldiers had not been paid for six months, and 
the letters which came from home told sad tales of the 
destitution and suffering of the loved ones who were to 
have been provided for as a reward for the sacrifices 
which their natural protectors were making for their coun- 
try. Friends at home sent citizens' clothes in which the 
soldier-boys might escape from a service that was grow- 
ing intolerably burdensome. 

The subordinate generals were severe in their criti- 
cisms of the new commander, and assisted in nurturing the 
growing discontent. Some of them represented the con- 
dition in its most discouraging view to the President in 
Washington. 

General Burnside was absorbed in plans for regaining 
the confidence of the army and of his chiefs in Washing- 
ton. He formed a design for crossing the river below 
Fredericksburg, sending the cavalry under Averell to the 
Rapidan to cross at Kelly's Ford and destroy communica- 

240 



CHANCE LL ORSVILLE. 24 1 

tion between General Lee and the Confederate capital. 
The objection to this plan was that it necessitated cross- 
ing in view of the Southern army, for Lee could not be 
depended upon to keep his eyes shut while the movement 
was being effected. 

On the 30th of December, Averell, with the cavalry, 
was at Kelly's Ford and the infantry was ready to move 
when Burnside received an order from the President pro- 
hibiting him from taking any action without consulting 
him. The commander offered his resignation, which was 
not accepted. He asked permission of the President 
either to resign or to move forward. Mr. Lincoln con- 
sented to the advance, and Burnside proceeded to put 
into operation a new plan which involved the passage of 
the river above Fredericksburg, and the surprise of "Lee, 
who expected him to cross at a lower point. In prepara- 
tion for this movement Sigel's corps was appointed to 
guard Falmouth, and Couch was to make a demonstration 
below Fredericksburg to divert the attention of the Con- 
federates. Roads were constructed. Banks's Ford, above 
Fredericksburg, was selected as the point for crossing 
and on January 20, Franklin and Hooker bivouacked near 
that point. Banks's Ford is a ford only in summer. In 
January it must be crossed on bridges. All of the 20th 
was spent in preparing for the passage. 

Had the movement begun three days earlier, or had 
the good weather prevailed three days longer, Burnside 
might have had opportunity to fight down all the resent- 
ment which resulted from the battle of Fredericksburg 
On the night of the 20th, the rain began to flood the earth 
and by the 22d, the army, the artillery and wagons were 
swamped in the sticky paste which is produced by the 
combination of water and Virginia soil. Burnside wa? 
still on the wrong side of the river, while the storm af 



242 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

forded Lee opportunity to range his army opposite, in 
preparation to receive Burnside, if he should succeed in 
crossing, and thus place himself between Lee's army and 
a river that was too swollen to be passed. The Confeder- 
ate sharpshooters, watching the movements of the Army 
of the Potomac as it endeavored to struggle through the 
mud, called across the river to offer their services in as- 
sisting to build the bridges. 

When the Army of the Potomac set out upon its dis- 
astrous expedition it destroyed many of the camps. Those 
which were left proved now a welcome shelter. On the 
22d, the army retreated, and on the 23d, reached its 
former position, and the famous mud march was ended. 
On the 25th, Burnside, at his own request, was relieved of 
a comimand for which he had from the beginning felt 
himself unfitted, and Major-General Joseph Hooker was 
assigned to the vacancy thus created, Sumner, broken 
by age and infirmity, was retired from active service, and 
Franklin was deprived of his command, thus leaving 
Hooker the senior general of this branch of the army. 

" Fighting Joe" devoted himself with his usual energy 
to the reorganization and drill of his army. President 
Lincoln had written a private letter to the new commander, 
which accompanied the order of appointment. After 
commending him for his soldierly qualities and freedom 
from political intrigue, and censuring him for his un- 
friendly criticisms of his predecessor, he closes thus: 

I much fear that the spirit which you have aided to infuse into the 
army, of criticising their commander and withholding confidence from 
him, will now turn upon you. I shall assist you as far as I can to put it 
down. Neither you nor Napoleon, if he were alive again, could get any 
good out of an army while such a spirit prevails in it. And now beware 
of rashness, but with energy and sleepless vigilance go forward and give 
U'; victories. 



CHAMCELLORSVILLE. 243 

Officers were required to have their absent men re- 
turn. A system of furloughs was established. Presi- 
dent Lincoln granted amnesty to all deserters who re- 
turned by the first of April. Recruits began to come in. 
The cavalry was placed under command of Stoneman, 
an able officer, but not a great cavalry leader. The dash- 
ing ardor of "Fighting Joe" infused new spirit into the 
army and won the confidence of all who love a dazzling 
warrior, and who does not? Perhaps the most peaceable 
soul on earth is not dead to the thrill which a martial 
hero excites. 

Lincoln visited the army and reviewed the troops. A 
Northern writer has said that "every visit he made to the 
army was equal to the addition of a new brigade." As he 
left he gave Hooker and Couch this final warning: "I 
want to impress you two gentlemen — in your next fight 
put in all your men." We shall see how well the injunc- 
tion was obeyed. 

By the end of April Hooker had what he called "the 
finest army on the planet," but it would not remain so long. 
He must fight an early battle, or lose the assistance of 
forty-one regiments whose time would expire. 

Lee expected either that Hooker would cross by the 
upper fords, or that he would move against Richmond. 
Longstreet laid out lines of defense for these fords, and 
was then ordered with the divisions of Hood and Pickett 
and the artillery of Bearing and Henry to a point near 
Petersburg to meet the possible movement on to Rich- 
mond. McLaws and R. H. Anderson remained to finish 
the work in connection with the fords. It was important 
to Hooker that he attack Lee in the absence of Long- 
street and his divisions. Lee's cavalry was also much 
worn by its series of brilliant raids, so dashing and suc- 
cessful that a Northern writer has said in connection with 



244 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

them: "Nothing that might be asserted of Confederate 
audacity or Federal imbecility is absolutely incredible." 

Lee was rapidly recruiting his army by conscription, 
and by the return of sick and wounded who had suffi- 
ciently recovered to report for service. D. H. Hill was 
sent to North Carolina, and his division was placed under 
Rodes. Early retained his command, and Trimble led 
Jackson's old division. 

In order to take advantage of every point in his favor, 
Hooker planned an attack upon Chancellorsville, a short 
distance from Fredericksburg, intending to cross the river 
by the two fords above the junction of the Rapidan with 
the Rappahannock, these fords having been left un- 
guarded. 

The heavens seemed to be as strongly opposed to the 
progress of the new commander as they had been to that 
of his predecessor. Heavy rains delayed action until the 
27th, when the march began, and on the 28th the passage 
across the river was effected by way of Kelly's Ford on 
the Rappahannock above the mouth of the Rapidan, 
twenty-seven miles from Fredericksburg, by the Eleventh 
and Twelfth Corps under Howard and Slocum, and the 
Fifth Corps under Meade. The next day the Rapidan 
was easily crossed, and Chancellorsville was reached on 
the 30th, when Couch crossed on a pontoon at the United 
States Ford. Meanwhile the remainder of the army had 
crossed belo^Y Fredericksburg. On May i. Sickles ar- 
rived in Chancellorsville. So far, the bold movement of 
Hooker had succeeded. 

When, on the 30th of April, 1863, the Federal com- 
mander rode up to the one house which at that time con- 
stituted Chancellorsville, conscious of being followed by 
seventy thousand men, he probably felt in every nerve his 
confident words: "I have Lee's army in one hand and 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 245 

Richmond in the other." He was to learn later that his 
birds were in the bush instead of in the hand. With 
heartfelt satisfaction he announced to the Army of the 
Potomac that the "enemy must either ingloriously fly" 
cr present himself "where certain destruction awaits 
him." General Hooker was new to command, and had 
the over-enthusiasm of youth. 

Hooker seemed to have exhausted himself in the 
crossing. He suddenly ceased to be " Fighting Joe," and 
became waiting Joe. His boasted ground upon which he 
had expressed his confident intention of devoting the 
Confederates to destruction appeared to be well adapted 
to the purpose, but he waited nearly twenty-four hours 
before proceeding to put his design into execution. 

Lee left Early to hold the heights of Fredericksburg 
against Sedgwick, and hastened the rest of his forces on to 
Chancellorsville during the evening and midnight of the 
30th. On the morning of May i, his cavalry met Sykes's 
division and a sharp skirmish followed. Lee's cavalry 
skirmishers were repulsed, but Hooker, instead of sup- 
porting his advanced columns, ordered them to fall back 
to their old positions. In spite of all remonstrance, 
Hooker insisted upon his order, and the Federals fell back, 
thereby relinquishing the ground which Hooker had in 
the beginning so proudly claimed as "our ground," and 
losing the battle of Chancellorsville in advance. The 
positions thus yielded were occupied by the Confederates, 
who placed their batteries on the ridges running in the 
direction of the Federal lines, and enfiladed the retreating 
troops. Night closed upon a field in which the Confeder- 
ates were well posted for offensive operations, while 
Hooker was very weakly fortified for defense. 

In the morning, Lee kept up a fierce cannonading along 
his right and center to conceal the movements of Stone- 



246 PICKETT AND HIS MEAT. 

wall Jackson, whom he sent with twenty-six thousand men 
to attack the Federal right. To accomplish the movement 
required the careful effort of an entire day, but it was suc- 
cessfully effected. A little before six o'clock in the after- 
noon, when the Federal troops on the right of the Union 
line, unconscious of danger, had stacked their arms and 
were preparing their supper, they were surprised by a sud- 
den burst of Jackson's men from the forest, before which 
they fled in confusion, suffering great loss in the rout. 

Jackson's movement had been observed early in the 
day and reported to Hooker, who imagined it to be a re- 
treat. Wavering in this supposition at one time, he sent 
a warning to Slocum and Howard on the right, but it 
never reached them. The surprise was complete. 

Hooker hurried up and ordered Birney's division, 
formerly his own, to charge with the bayonet. This move- 
ment resulted in checking the onset of Jackson and forc- 
ing him into the woods commanding abandoned intrench- 
ments where some Federal guns were left unprotected. 
In a moment the Confederates would seize them and turn 
them upon their former possessors. 

It was in front of these batteries, though not through 
them, that the darkest shadow which had yet fallen upon 
the Southern cause lowered down into a starless night. It 
was here that Stonewall Jackson fell, shot down by the 
men who would have given their lives at any moment to 
save him. On that moonlit evening in May, when vic- 
tory had perched upon the banner of the South, when the 
heart of the Confederacy thrilled with exultant hope, he 
whom a Northern writer has called "that thunderbolt in 
war," the leader whose presence meant victory, the man 
from whose deep eyes flashed forth the signal-flame of 
triumph, the soldier in whose voice rang the battle-cry 
to which all Southern hearts responded, furled his flag 



CHANCELLOR SVILLE. 247 

and left the field forever. As has been truly said by a 
Northern historian, it is doubtful whether all the advan- 
tages gained to the Southern cause in the battle of Chancel- 
lorsville were not dearly purchased by the loss of Thomas 
Jonathan Jackson. He died at Guiney's Station, Virginia, 
on the loth of May. 

Pleasanton, having gained an aggressive position, pro- 
ceeded to fortify it, arranging batteries and constructing 
roads across the marshy ground, until he had so strength- 
ened his position that he thought, with the support of 
Sickles's infantry, he could maintain himself against all 
Lee's army. By unremitting efforts during the night of 
the 2d, Sickles succeeded in recovering a part of the 
ground and some of the guns which had been lost the day 
before, but upon reporting to Hooker was surprised by 
an order to fall back to Chancellorsville. Thus the key of 
the military position was abandoned by the Federals, and 
the Confederates seized it to unlock the door of success. 

On the 3d, thirty Confederate guns were placed upon 
the point of vantage and, covered as Lee's army was by 
thick woods which concealed it from the opposing force, 
it was no difficult matter to hold at bay the disorganized 
Federals, who were unnerved by disaster, and disabled by 
ignorance of the geography of the dense forest in which 
they could never know anything about the magnitude of 
the force they were to encounter. 

Sickles was attacked by the old corps of Jackson, now 
commanded by Stuart, the men crying out as they ad- 
vanced: " Remember Jackson!" Stuart was singing, with 
gleeful appreciation, "Old Joe Hooker, come out of the 
wilderness." Sickles's men fought, as one of their officers 
said, " like devils," but a flanking fire from the artillery on 
the ground which they had relinquished that morning by the 
order of the commanding general, and a furious front attack 



248 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

by the Confederate infantry caused them to retire to a line 
which they succeeded in holding to the end of the day. 

The roads centering at Chancellorsville passed under 
control of the Confederates, who pressed forward until 
Stuart, fighting the Union right, effected a junction with 
Lee's main army. 

As the Union forces fell back, the Confederate artil- 
lery was brought more into play, and the Chancellor House, 
where Hooker had his headquarters, was soon under fire. 
Hooker was struck by a falling column and for a while 
was supposed to be dead. Much time was lost before he 
became conscious, and his dazed condition for the rest of 
the day rendered him incapable of determinate direction. 

Sedgwick waited at Fredericksburg until the night of 
the 2d, when he received orders to destroy the Confeder- 
ate force and march at once to Chancellorsville, falling 
upon Lee's rear while Hooker attacked him on the front. 
To do this, the heights of Fredericksburg must be scaled. 
Early driven off, and a march of eleven miles effected. 
These arduous duties were so far accomplished as to bring 
him out upon the Chancellorsville road in pursuit of 
Barksdale's Mississippians, with Banks's Ford in his rear, 
affording him an opportunity of recrossing the river 
should it become necessary. Here he was met by Mc- 
Laws, sent by Lee to stop Sedgwick's progress. 

Sedgwick soon found that he must either avail himself 
of the opportunity of retreat furnished by the proximity 
of Banks's Ford, or fight the whole Army of Northern 
Virginia, with no support from Hooker, whose despatches 
indicated a vacillation of mind which foreboded no good 
to any one whose safety depended upon prompt action by 
^'-^e commander-in-chief. 



CHANCELLORSVILLE. 249 

Lee, no longer apprehensive of an attack from the 
main army, was able to concentrate himself upon Sedg- 
wick and, reoccupying the heights of Fredericksburg, at- 
tacked him on the flank and during the night forced him 
across the river with a loss of five thousand men. 

The next day, the 5th, passed quietly, and in the even- 
ing Hooker determined to recross, a movement which he 
effected without molestation from the Confederates. The 
only obstacle to his withdrawal was a violent storm which 
flooded the river. From the north side of the river on 
the 6th of May, Hooker issued a congratulatory order in 
which he claimed, if not a victory, technically speaking, 
at least most of the advantages of one. The South, how- 
ever, and the Army of the Potomac, the Northern people 
and the administration at Washington, all united in re- 
garding it as a defeat, which further demoralized the Army 
of the Potomac and dispelled all illusions regarding 
" Fighting Joe" as a great military leader. 

Not quite a month had passed since Lincoln had given 
his parting charge to the two commanders. Notwithstand- 
ing this injunction from one in whom common sense well 
took the place of strict military training, over forty thou 
sand men, eager for the fray, had been left inactive. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE HIGH TIDE OF THE CONFEDERACY. 

At no time since the lightnings of war had flashed their 
signal of terror across the continent had the cause of the 
South risen so high, nor that of the North sunk so low, as 
in the spring of 1863. The Confederacy had reached its 
high tide. 

From the beginning of the conflict the nations of 
Europe had seized upon the opportunity of "feeding fat 
the ancient grudges" they bore the United States. They 
saw in the new departure of the South the beginning of 
the fall of the republic and, like vultures, they hovered 
over the scene of the contest ready to swoop down when 
the carnage should be over and the field left quiet that 
the birds of prey might gorge themselves. They were 
ready to proffer assistance to any cause which seemed to 
be in line with their own ambitions, and thus gave to the 
South their self-interested sympathy. 

Spain, always sensible of the dangerous influence of a 
vigorous republic so near her own oppressed and down- 
trodden insular possessions, had lost no time in signify- 
ing her approval of the Southern movement. Within 
six months from the time the first gun at Fort Sumter 
had sent a shudder through the great republic and thrilled 
the world with the first thunders of the storm that had for 
so long sent its premonitory mutterings through the 
trembling air, she had given formal recognition to the 
dawning independence of the struggling new nation, thus 
affording it a moral support which would resolve itself 

250 



HIGH TIDE OF THE CONFEDERACY. 25 1 

into practical aid when other nations should have been 
induced to follow her example. 

England, actuated by her unfailing policy of seizing 
everything in sight which can be laid hold of without 
danger to herself, was more than ready to give assistance 
to any cause which seemed to promote her own designs. 
Early in the war the strongest man in the British Parlia- 
ment had risen in the House of Commons to advocate 
the acknowledgment of the Southern Confederacy, on the 
plea that England could successfully rival the North and 
South separately, but she never could while they re- 
mained one. Only the presence of the Russian fleet near 
the coast of South America, and the well-known fact that 
Russia would unite with any power on earth against her 
ancient foe, England, prevented the British government 
from accepting the overtures of Napoleon III. to that end. 

Notwithstanding this obstacle, the advocates of the 
Confederacy in England lost no opportunity of indicating 
their desire for its success, and their intention of assisting 
it in every way in their power. The Russian fleet would 
not always be in American waters, and if it should be, a 
combination of all the forces hostile to the United States 
government would nullify the power of Russia to oppose 
any effective bar to the designs of Great Britain. 

Louis Napoleon, the inveterate enemy of the United 
States, who had never believed in the power of the old 
government to maintain itself, was looking forward with 
ambitious aspirations to the time when the banner of the 
South would float from the Capitol in Washington. He 
had never forgiven the American Republic for the pur- 
chase of Louisiana, and still regarded the land involved 
as rightfully belonging to France. He kept up a sem- 
blance of friendship with the government at Washington, 
and in his efforts to plant himself so firmly upon Ameri- 



»$2 PICKETT AND HIS MEi^'. 

can soil that he could never be uprooted, he made his 
protestations of amity the cloak for every possible device 
against the administration party. He strove to induce 
other powers to join him in plots against the North, not 
from any friendship for the South, but with the design, as 
he expressed it to one of his confidants, of "restoring to 
the Latin race on the other side of the ocean its force and 
prestige." Should the South be successful, he hoped that 
Louisiana and Texas, at least, might fall an easy prey into 
his hands, thereby furnishing him with a territory larger 
than all France, upon which he might experiment with his 
scheme for Latin restoration. 

Let the tide of war roll from the South to the North, 
and foreign alliances would be made, loans would be 
secured in London and Paris, supplies would be sent from 
European ports, a fleet might be fitted out in foreign 
waters for raising the blockade. 

While the foreign assistance which might be expected 
in the event of a successful aggressive movement was a 
strong incentive to bold action, the situation in the North 
seemed to indicate that such success would not be very 
difficult of attainment. From the beginning of the war 
the Northern States had been permeated with a Southern 
element. Not all the friends of the South breathed the 
magnolia-scented atmosphere of the sunny clime. They 
flourished as vigorously, and almost as helpfully, in the 
steely frosts of the North as in the pearly dews of the 
South. 

This element had been greatly strengthened by recent 
events. The fatality which seemed to have followed with 
the faithfulness of an echo the tramp, tramp, tramp of the 
Northern army had encouraged the Southern sympathizers 
and added to their number, while it had in like measure 
disheartened and weakened the supporters of the North. 



HIGH TIDE OF THE CONFEDERACY. 253 

The measures of policy adopted by the administration 
had an almost equal effect in depressing Northern senti- 
ment. The enthusiasm of volunteers in the beginning of 
the war had paled and weakened through disaster, and 
the growing reluctance to throwing away any more lives 
on a cause that did not seem to be verging toward success 
made it necessary to recruit the army by drafting. This 
method was not in accordance with the deeply rooted 
American sentiment of independence, and caused great 
dissatisfaction, which finally grew into riot. 

In September, 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation 
Proclamation, to take effect in January of the following 
year. This policy did not meet the approval of many 
who had until that time remained loyal to the North, and 
had a strong influence in strengthening the anti-war party. 

The suspension of the habeas corpus excited opposi- 
tion as an ultra war measure. 

Before the close of 1862, the national debt had reached 
the alarming proportions of ^5 1 5,000,000. Americans have 
never accepted the British view, that a public debt is a 
safeguard to a nation, and they viewed these figures as a 
menace to national honor and to future liberty. 

The financial condition kept the public in that state of 
irritation which is likely at any moment to develop into 
revolt. Specie payments were suspended, and an irre- 
deemable paper currency threatened to swamp the coun- 
try. People were weary of watching the oscillations of 
gold which followed every political or military movement. 
They groaned under heavy taxation and equally heavy ex- 
penses for the most ordinary necessities of life. As prices 
rose patriotism fell. 

The adverse conditions were intensified by the politi- 
cal situation at Washington, where politicians pulled wires 
as vigorously as if no storm of fire and blood were sweep- 



254 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

ing over the country to call the attention of all men to the 
fact that there was something of more importance to think 
about than personal schemes for the aggrandizement of 
seliish partisans. A cabixict crisis, produced by the dif- 
ferences of radical and conservative members, supervened, 
to the still further alarm and depression of the country, 
and, though the excitement was promptly allayed by the 
tact of Lincoln, it exercised its influence upon the nation, 
and it might at any time be repeated. 

The misfortunes which had overtaken the Federal 
army during the year had greatly assisted the anti-war 
party at the polls in 1862, and had resulted, among other 
things unfavorable to the North, in the election of a man 
of well-known Southern sympathies as governor of New 
York. 

The city of New York was the center of a Southern 
element which had its ramifications in all the other great 
cities of the North. Generally speaking, the North, un- 
like the South, is ruled by her cities. The great centers 
of population, composed of representatives of many 
nationalities, of diverse training and discordant political 
and social beliefs, play the winning card in most of the 
national games. In the South the community was more 
homogeneous, and more united in battling for their cause. 
Although many sons of the South still sheltered them- 
selves under the old flag, the South, in the main, stood 
together in the gallant fight for nationality. 

Most of these weaknesses of the North were known to 
Lee, and to the whole South, and presented strong in- 
ducements to an aggressive movement upon Northern 
soil. 

The personal needs of the Army of Northern Virginia 
were irresistible incentives to a raid which, if successful, 
would provide the ragged, barefoot, hungry, suffering fol- 



HIGH TIDE OF THE CONFEDERACY. 255 

lowers of Lee with clothing and food that would support 
them until the final blow could be struck, and win for the 
South an unfailing store of supplies for the future. 

For the greater part of four years the South had been 
constantly supplying and never garnering. The men who 
had formerly tilled the soil were now engaged in pursuits 
that were not immediately productive, and the willing 
earth lay with all its treasures deeply hidden in its heart, 
waiting for the hand of peaceful toil to reach down 
and gather the wealth that would be so freely given for 
the asking. In vain Mother Earth held there her glorious 
fruitage, while her wayward children rushed murderously 
on, trampling to death the fresh green carpet which she 
had spread over her, as a living promise of what she would 
give if they would accept. Rivers of blood overwhelmed 
her, while she lay prostrate, with her jewels held to her 
own heart, because her children would not stretch out their 
hands and take them from her grasp. 

Across the Pennsylvania line the verdant hills and gen- 
erous green valleys seemed to smile and beckon a loving 
invitation to the starving, unclad Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia to come over and be fed and clothed. Nature is 
neither Northern nor Southern — she is universal. If she 
were let alone to carry out her will she would provide for 
all alike. What wonder that hungry eyes looked long- 
ingly northward where her full garner offered abundant 
■stores! 

Once across the line, Lee hoped to turn the tables and 
give the Northern army a taste of warfare with an empty 
commissariat. His first step would be to destroy the rail- 
roads and suspend communication from the North to the 
Army of the Potomac. He would interrupt supplies and 
reduce Hooker's army in a few days to the same condi- 
tion as his own. 



256 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The public sentiment of the South, having demanded 
this movement, was looking forward with vivid imagina- 
tion to its possible results. The daily press thrilled the 
popular heart with pictures of the devastation which would 
accrue to the North and the consequent advantage to the 
South of the invasion. The occupation of the principal 
cities of Pennsylvania would cut the North in two. The 
coal-fields would be destroyed and business would be 
paralyzed. '< 

Another incentive to Lee's aggressive action was the 
necessity of relieving the pressure upon the west. Grant 
was thundering at the gates of Vicksburg. A strong 
movement toward the north might result in calling him 
from Mississippi, and Rosecrans from Tennessee, back to 
Washington, If Vicksburg should fall, a success on 
Northern ground would go far toward alleviating the bad 
effects of that disaster. 

To crown all, the Union army itself was believed to 
be dispirited by defeat. Want of harmony among its 
generals, especially between Halleck, the commander-in- 
chief, and the commander of the Army of the Potomac, 
gave promise of an easy victory. 

The battle of Antietam had delayed Lee's raid, pro- 
jected in 1862, but subsequent events had seemed to point 
to it as the one way to success. 

In all the history of warfare, had ever a commander of 
a great army resisted such alluring temptations as spread 
themselves before Lee, as he looked across the Southern 
border into the smiling meadows of the North gleaming 
in the golden sunshine of June? 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

PENNSYLVANIA CAMPAIGN. 

Lee disclosed his plan of campaign to General A. L, 
Long, his military secretary, in the camp near Fredericks- 
burg. He traced on the map the proposed route of his army. 

His first thought was to maneuver Hooker out of his 
position on the Rappahannock and force him to fight at 
Chambersburg, York or, perhaps, Gettysburg. He was 
confident of victory — a victory which meant the evacua- 
tion of Washington, and the recall of the Federal troops 
from the siege of Vicksburg. 

Lee had about sixty thousand veterans. The artil- 
lery, under Pendleton, aggregated two hundred guns. 
The strength of the cavalry was about six thousand, 
under Stuart, Hampton, Robertson, and Jones. The in- 
fantry was reorganized into three army corps, desig- 
nated as the First, Second, and Third Corps, commanded 
by Longstreet, Ewell, and A. P. Hill. 

On June 3, 1863, Longstreet began to push on to- 
ward Culpeper, followed by Ewell. A. P. Hill was left 
in front of Fredericksburg to restrain Hooker from ad- 
vancing against Richmond, and to conceal the movements 
of the main army. With unceasing vigilance he prevented 
any communication between the two sides of the river, 
capturing the scouts who had been sent out by Hooker to 
ascertain Lee's movements. On the 5th Hooker sent a 
corps to the south side of the river. As Hill perceived 
that it was intended merely for observation, it was not 
opposed. 

17 257 



258 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The 8th of June Stuart's cavalry and the two corps under 
Longstreet and Ewell concentrated near Culpeper. Here 
Lee reviewed his cavalry, led by that brilliant meteor 
which flashed vividly across the firmament of war, General 
J. E. B. Stuart. The military ardor of this dashing cav- 
alier had not been satisfied by the excitement of real war, 
and he had fought a mock battle for the entertainment of 
his superior officer. 

Real cannon thundered their grim message out upon the 
winds, until the foe across the river thought a battle was 
on and prepared hastily for whatever action might be re- 
quired as the situation should develop. The gallant ten 
thousand who so gracefully performed their intricate evo- 
lutions under the leadership of the most famous cavalry 
commander on the western continent, before the admiring 
eyes of Lee and his staff, were, as Heth had said, "the 
eyes and ears of the army." 

Calmly upon his battle-horse, majestic and stately, 
with the stars and bars waving protectingly over him as 
if to promise him victory, Lee sat watching the mimic 
fray, as a man who has been struggling through some 
tragedy of real life, with death \u his soul, may go to the 
theater to rest his wearied mind in the tinseled ebb and 
flow of assumed emotions. 

The Federal cavalry, under Pleasanton, crossed the 
Rappahannock on the 9th of June to attack Stuart near 
Brandy Station. The infantry assisted in driving it back, 
large spoils remaining in Stuart's possession. Pleasanton 
recrossed the river, carrying with him less artillery than 
he had brought, but more information. Among the items 
of knowledge which he had gained were the facts that 
Ewell and Longstreet were not far from the Shenandoah 
Valley, and that Lee's cavalry was a third stronger than 
Hooker's. The fight at Brandy Station was o* impor- 



PENNSYLVANIA CAMPAIGN. 259 

tance chiefly as being the first regular cavalry engage- 
ment of the war. 

Lee's army was able to seize and hold all the fords of 
the river, was secure from attack on the march, and when 
it reached the valley was protected by the Blue Ridge. 
Lee had drawn every available man. A like concentra- 
tion had not been effected by his adversary, owing to 
the hostility of the commander-in-chief at Washington 
against Hooker. 

Lee, on June 10, despatched Ewell from Culpeper toward 
the valley to capture Milroy. Imboden was at the same 
time ordered to lead his horsemen as far as Romney, and 
Jenkins moved down upon Winchester. 

On the morning of the 12th of June the right wing of 
the Union army, under Reynolds, was put in motion 
toward Manassas, and the next day three other corps 
were ordered to the northward. 

On June 13 Ewell was in possession of Martinsburg, 
Imboden held control of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 
and Jenkins was pressing northward to Williamsport. 
Longstreet was encamped at Culpeper. A. P. Hill was 
at Fredericksburg. Hooker was trying, according to 
orders, to maintain his position between Lee's army and 
Washington. 

Ewell, on June 15, gained a victory over Milroy at Win- 
chester, capturing four thousand prisoners and twenty- 
nine guns, scattering Milroy's ten thousand, driving the 
Federal garrison from Harper's Ferry, and crossing the 
Potomac with his vanguard. 

On the evening of June 15 Jenkins advanced toward 
Chambersburg. Longstreet was moving out of Culpeper 
to take the passes of the Blue Ridge. Hill was going 
toward Culpeper. 

The Confederate cavalry under Stuart, on the 17th, 



260 PICKETT AXD HIS MEN. 

met the Federal cavalry led by Pleasanton near Aldie 
and drove it back. The next day the attack was renewed 
and, Pleasanton having been reinforced by infantry, Stuart 
was compelled to retire, having taken about four hundred 
prisoners and some horses and arms. 

At this time the Confederates were outstretched 
from Culpeper, where A. P. Hill now was, to Cham- 
bersburg, which had been raided by Jenkins. Ewell oc- 
cupied Hagerstown and Sharpsburg. Longstreet was 
guarding the pass at the Blue Ridge. Stuart was at the 
gap of the Bull Run Mountains, veiling the movements 
of the army. 

On June i8 Lee ordered his entire army to cross the 
Potomac. Hill passed behind Longstreet's line through 
Chester Gap into the valley and on to Shepherdstown 
in search of Ewell. Longstreet, with Pickett's three bri- 
gades and the divisions of McLaws and Hood, followed 
on after Hill. On the 2ist, the division of McLaws was 
sent back to support Stuart at Ashby's Gap in the Blue 
Ridge. Imboden entered Pennsylvania, and Sam Jones 
advanced into West Virginia. 

Ewell, on June 23, swept up the Cumberland Valley to- 
ward Carlisle. Stuart was to pass around Hooker's rear, 
cross the Potomac to the eastward of Hooker's army, and 
come into touch with Ewell's advance at York. He easily 
gained the point for which he had started, but failed in 
his design of capturing supplies intended for the Union 
forces, and was cut off from his own army. He left two 
brigades under Robertson in the mountains with instruc- 
tions, it is said, to report to General Longstreet, though 
Longstreet states that such order was not given. Thus 
the Army of Northern Virginia was rendered blind and 
deaf, being without its cavalry, "the eyes and ears of 
an army." Stuart pushed on to Carlisle, and did not 



PENNSYLVANIA CAMPAIGN. 26 1 

know that a battle was fought at Gettysburg on the ist of 
July. 

Lee had consented to his making this ride, expecting 
that Stuart would be able to return by the time his serv- 
ices were needed. He was the ideal cavalry leader, bold, 
dashing and ardent, impetuous of heart, and zealous in the 
cause for which he fought, and Lee's army was indeed 
blind and deaf without his sleepless vigilance. But 
for the absence of such information as the cavalry could 
have obtained for him in his northern invasion, who 
knows what changes might have been wrought in the map 
of the western hemisphere? 

Hooker crossed the Potomac at Edwards's Ferry on 
the 25th and 26th, and marched directly upon Frederick, 
Maryland. Here he intended to send the Twelfth Corps 
(Slocum's) through the South Mountain passes to the west- 
ward to join eleven thousand troops under General French 
at Harper's Ferry, and attack Lee's rear, interrupting com- 
munications, capturing trains, and exposing him to a gen- 
eral attack. Halleck would not allow the troops to be 
taken from Harper's Ferry, saying that Maryland Heights 
must be held "as the key to Maryland." Hooker said 
that it was useless to hold the key " now that the door 
had been smashed in," and tendered his resignation, thus 
snapping the already severely strained relations existing 
between himself and the authorities at Washington. On 
the 27th he was relieved from command. Assistant 
Adjutant-General James A. Hardie was sent by special 
train with the double order — one relieving Hooker, the 
other appointing General George G. Meade to the com- 
mand of the Army of the Potomac, Thus the star of 
Hooker went down at Chancellorsville, to remain in 
eclipse until it rose again above the clouds of Lookout 
Mountain. 



262 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

About ten days earlier General Dix, at Fortress Monroe, 
had been ordered to threaten Richmond, left with but a 
weak defense. Troops were sent to Yorktown and the 
White House. Seven thousand men under General Getty- 
moved to Hanover Junction to destroy Lee's communica- 
tions. General Keyes with about five thousand troops 
went from White House to Bottom's Bridge on the Chicka- 
hominy, clearing the way for an advance on Richmond. 
On the 15th his command was only fifteen miles from the 
city. For a time it was feared that Lee must be recalled 
to the defense of Richmond. Reinforcements from the 
south were sent up, the militia called out, and the danger 
was over. 

On the 24th and 25th Lee's entire force was north of 
the river. They were surprised to find a country so rich, 
and they seized all kinds of supplies, rigidly insisting upon 
paying for them with Confederate scrip, explaining, when 
the unwilling sellers objected, that if they gave their aid 
to the invaders the money which they now viewed with 
suspicion would be worth its face value. 

Ewell, in advance of Lee, went from Chambersburg 
to Carlisle, where he arrived on the 27th of June with 
the divisions of Rodes and Johnson, and Jenkins's cav- 
alry brigade. Early marched from Boonsboro to Green- 
v/ood and thence to York. Longstreet and Hill followed 
Ewell and arrived at Chambersburg when Ewell reached 
Carlisle. Lee's whole army was now in the State of 
Pennsylvania, his advance threatening Harrisburg. Early 
was to tear up the Northern Central Railroad at York, 
and go on to Wrightsville. He desired to secure the 
bridge at that place, as it would furnish a passage for Lee's 
army across a difficult stream which would otherwise 
present an impassable barrier. When he appeared the 
Pennsylvania militia retreated across the bridge and set 



PENNSYLVANIA CAMPAIGN. 263 

fire to it. As Early could not cross the Susquehanna, 
he returned to his corps. 

At Chambersburg, Lee delivered an address with the 
refrain, "Vengeance is Mine," and issued an order that 
there should be no retaliation, and that private property 
should not be destroyed. 

Lee's army had been increased to its maximum 
strength. Pickett's division had reinforced Longstreet's 
corps. The Fourteenth Virginia Regiment marched to join 
Pickett's division, and was afterward in time for the close 
of the battle of Gettysburg, where it fought in Armistead's 
brigade, and its colonel, James G. Hodges, was killed in 
the great charge of July 3. So thoroughly had Lee con- 
centrated his army that when he suggested to President 
Davis that Beauregard should make a demonstration upon 
Culpeper to divert Hooker's attention Davis replied that 
there were not enough men left to make it possible. 

Jenkins had taken possession of Greencastle and 
Chambersburg. At the latter place he proceeded to gather 
in the supplies of which his army was in great need, pay- 
ing for them in the most liberal manner with Confederate 
scrip. Of his commercial methods the editor of a Cham- 
bersburg paper said : 

True, the system of Jenkins would be considered a little informal 
in business circles; but it's his way, and our people are agreed to it, per- 
haps, to some extent, because of the novelty, but mainly because of the 
necessity of the thing. 

On Jenkins personally he commented thus; 

He graduated at Jefferson College in this State, and gave promise 
of future usefulness and greatness. His downward career commenced 
some five years ago, when in an evil hour he became a member of Con- 
gress from Western Virginia, and from thence may be dated his decline 
and fall. 



264 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Though there had been a sudden removal of all the sup- 
plies that could be carried into the mountains and across 
the Susquehanna, yet Jenkins secured a goodly quantity, 
which he handed over to the main army through Ewell, 
v/ho, for that purpose, remained between Hagerstown and 
the Potomac. In addition to gaining provisions, this raid 
was intended to induce Hooker either to uncover Wash- 
ington or to attack the Confederates and give Lee an op- 
portunity of fighting a defensive battle, in which he was 
confident of success. 

On Sunday, the 21st of June, Jenkins attended church 
with Ewell at Hagerstown. On Monday he returned 
to Chambersburg, accompanied by Ewell's infantry and 
Rodes's and Early's divisions, under Ewell's command, 
and followed by Johnson. 

General Imboden of the cavalry had broken up the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and destroyed the canal to 
prevent troops from West Virginia from attacking Lee 
upon the flank. Then he struck out for Fulton County, 
having a skirmish on the way with a part of the First New 
York Cavalry, and took possession of McConnellsburg. 

The Cumberland Valley Railroad had also been de- 
stroyed, and so completely was communication interrupted 
that the people of the North had yet no conception of 
the magnitude of the raid, and their papers were still 
holding out the view that the situation was by no means 
alarming. 

On the 28th of June, the movement of Ewell having 
failed to draw the Federals from their mountain covert, 
Lee determined to relieve the rear of his army from the 
pressure which bore upon i . With this design, he checked 
the northern march by issuing a counter-order direct- 
ing the concentration of his army east of the mountains, 
at Cashtown. This order recalled Hill's division from 



PENNSYLVANIA CAMPAIGN. 265 

the Susquehanna, which he had expected to cross in the 
direction of Philadelphia or Harrisburg. His leading 
division under Heth went to Cashtown on the 29th. On 
the 30th, Hill, with Pender's division, marched for the 
same place, and was followed, on July i, by R. H. Ander- 
son's division. 

When the order came, Ewell, at Carlisle, was moving 
forward to attack Harrisburg. He had with him the divi- 
sions of Rodes and E. Johnson and the reserve artillery. 
Early's division was at York. In accordance with the 
order to concentrate around Cashtown, on the 30th of 
June, Rodes was at Heidlersburg, ten miles from Gettys- 
burg, Early was not far away, Johnson, with the reserve 
artillery and trains, was near Green Village, twenty-three 
miles from Gettysburg, and Stuart, having torn up the 
railroad between Meade and Washington, was raiding 
around York and Carlisle. Pickett's three brigades had 
been left at Chambersburg under orders to guard trains. 

Meade advanced northward from Fredericksburg, and 
made his headquarters at Taneytown, fourteen miles south- 
east of Gettysburg, and about a mile north of Pipe Creek, 
where he expected to fight the coming battle. His First 
Corps, under Reynolds, was at Marsh Creek, six miles from 
Gettysburg, and the Sixth, under Sedgwick, at Manchester, 
to the south. Hunt, general in command of the artillery 
of the army, was with Meade at Taneytown, and Kil- 
patrick's, Gregg's, and Buford's cavalry were at Hanover, 
Manchester and Gettysburg. The rest of the Army of the 
Potomac was scattered around Gettysburg at Uniontown, 
Bridgeport, Union Mills, Emmitsburg and Littletown. 

On this momentous closing day of June, 1863, wondrous 
with startling results, Stuart was moving from Hanover 
toward York with the fatal captured wagon-train of two 
hundred mule teams. He passed within seven miles of 



266 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Early's bivouac, that leader failing to warn him of the 
southward march. All unconscious of his proximity to 
his friends, he moved on toward Carlisle, while Lee anx- 
iously awaited his coming, hoping to capture Harrisburg 
and offer determined battle at Cashtown. 

At sunset the heads of the two armies, each ignorant 
of the presence of the other, were close together. Twi- 
light crept up softly from the distant forest and threw 
her purple veil over the mountains which grew wraithlike 
in its magic folds. The mists floated upward from the 
streams that made rippling, silvery lines through the 
grass-grown valley and quivered in changeful beauty in 
the shimmering air. Night came gently down, radiant 
with stars, fragrant with flower-laden breezes, musical 
with sweet summer sounds, peaceful as sleep, but with 
that solemn quietude with which sleep deepens into 
death. 

Such were the surroundings of the approaching armies. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

GETTYSBURG — FIRST DAY. 

All through the ages has nature provided for coming 
events. With prophetic wisdom she foresees the cata- 
clysms that yet lie hidden in the mysterious future, 
and brings all the forces of the universe to prepare for 
them. 

Thus, looking adown the far slope of time, she saw a 
great battle in which questions that had heretofore weak- 
ened the unity of the nation should be settled at count- 
less cost of blood and treasure, and prepared for that 
mighty conflict a fitting field. 

She created a rolling plain and proceeded to fortify it 
with her own matchless defenses. 

First, she fanned the subterranean fires which propelled 
the gigantic machinery of the planet till they flamed up 
with an intensity that rent the surface of the earth and 
threw out great masses of material, stored there through 
all the ages, waiting for their appointed time. 

Of this material a ridge was formed to the south of 
the wide plain in the shape of a fish-hook — a deadly hook 
it would sometime prove to be, on which many a victim 
would be impaled. At the point of the hook she built 
an eminence, afterward called Wolf's Hill, appropriately 
enough, for were not wolfish deeds to be done there at a 
future bloody time? 

At the barb of the hook she made another mountain- 
peak which in time was known as Gulp's Hill. Between 
them she caused a sparkling stream of water to flow, sa 

267 



268 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

hedged around and protected by magnificent and pic- 
turesque rocks that in after time it was known as Rock 
Creek. 

The gigantic stem of the hook was formed by a suc- 
cession of hills whereon there was later a sacred spot in 
which the earthly forms of loved ones, whose souls had 
passed beyond into the higher phase of life, were laid to 
rest with loving, tender care, beneath green sod radiant 
with the bloom of flowers watered by tears of love and 
hope. From this peaceful and holy place the chain took 
the name of Cemetery Ridge, a faithful prophecy of its 
destined purpose. 

The stem ends in two hills, Round Top and Little 
Round Top, the two keys which some day would lock 
and unlock the military treasure of the great Cemetery 
Ridge. 

A short distance northwest of Little Round Top was a 
cavern formed of piles of enormous rocks, wild and rugged 
and sinister-looking. So filled was it with appalling sug- 
gestions and terrifying appeals to a sensitive imagination 
that it had received the name of Devil's Den. It came 
to pass in later days that, resounding with reports of 
deadly musketry, shrouded in smoke and flaming with 
fire, it bore well its demoniac name. 

Between the Round Tops and Devil's Den flows a lit- 
tle marshy stream known as Plum Run — name of gentle 
suggestions dear to the heart of the farmer's child. It is 
associated with summer orchards, with red fruit dropping 
dovvn, with appetizing suppers in the soft gloaming of the 
summer day, with the sweet smell of the clover wafted 
up from the southern hillside meadow on the gentle 
wings of the summer air, and the luscious crimson fruit 
lying temptingly among green leaves on the white-draped 
table. 



GETTYSBURG — FIRST DAY. 269 

Westward from Cemetery Hill, beyond a valley from 
half a mile to a mile wide, extending north and south, is 
another range not quite so tall, crowned by a magnificent 
growth of oak-trees, from which it has the name of Oak 
Ridge. Afterward a theological seminary was built there 
and the chain became known as Seminary Ridge. 

All around nature left her choicest gifts of beauty and 
fascination, that the region might secure in the coming 
ages a concentration of the forces which should pave the 
way for the march of armies. 

In time, peach- and apple-orchards filled that peaceful 
valley with pink and white beauty. When summertide 
came, fields of wheat waved to the wind between the two 
sheltering ranges of hills. The fruits of the earth gave 
luxurious cheer to the happy dwellers in that beautiful 
plain when the bloom of the flowers floated upward into 
the crimson of the autumn leaves. 

Nature having erected her offensive and defensive 
posts and surrounded the place with impregnable fortifi- 
cations, it remained for man to do his part in preparing 
this ground for its awful destiny. 

This he did by constructing numerous roads which, 
converging to it from all sides, caused it to be compared 
to "the hub of a wheel, receiving spokes from every 
direction." These roads were intended by those who 
constructed them as assistants in the peaceful vocations 
of life. Unwittingly, they were adapted to aid in the 
bloody harvest of death. 

A road from Chambersburg led down from the north- 
west, the Carlisle road from the north, the Harrisburg road 
from the northeast, the York road from the east, the Balti- 
more road from the southeast, the Taneytown road from 
the south, the Potomac roads from the southwest. Con- 
venient avenues they proved in after years for the guid- 



270 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

ance of those who had long been warring with each other 
across the historic river. 

The selection of a battle field is of no less importance 
than its preparation away back in the geologic ages. The 
field for the greatest battle of the war between the States 
had been set apart for that purpose by a series of what 
might be regarded as trivial circumstances, were it not 
for the well-known fact that there are no trifles in the 
realm of destiny. 

The general-in-chief of the Army of Virginia and the 
commander of the Army of the Potomac each had con- 
victions about the proper field for the battle. Lee chose 
Cashtown, as affording a strong background of mountains 
as a defense; Meade had set his martial mind upon fight- 
ing at Pipe Creek. In the selection of battle-fields, gen- 
erals propose, but Mars disposes. 

By his untrammeled will does the god of war choose 
the stage for the unfolding of each scene in his blood-red 
drama. Having made his selection, he leads thither his fol- 
lowers by some slight incident in which his hand is unseen. 

The armies were guided to the field on which was to be 
fought the decisive battle of the Civil War by the somewhat 
homely detail of shoes. These minor articles, which have 
been rendered daily necessities by a highly evolved and 
complicated state of society, have played an important 
part in history; as, for example, the sandals that betrayed 
the unfortunate Empedocles and destroyed a faith upon 
which a whole school of philosophy depended for intel- 
lectual and moral salvation. 

So, it happened that shoes which had never been on mor- 
tal feet — phantasmal shoes, which may have existed only 
in the imagination — evanescent shoes, eagerly sought but 
never found — though devoid of guiding feet, even ghostly 
ones, led the way to the battle-field of Gettysburg. 



GETTYSBURG — FIRST DAY. 27I 

Heth called for the shoes to supply the needs of his 
soldiers, and Pettigrew set out for Gettysburg to procure 
them. Pettigrew did not find the shoes which he ex- 
pected, but he did find two brigades of Buford's cavalry 
which he did not expect, and, being unprepared for the 
encounter, he fell back to Marsh Creek, half-way to Cash- 
town. 

Hill, supposing that merely a detachment of cavalry 
was in Gettysburg, sent Heth and Pender of his division 
on from Cashtown with battalions of artillery under 
Pegram and Mcintosh, thus precipitating a battle with two 
of Meade's corps whom Buford had summoned to his aid. 

The little white village of Gettysburg nestled peace- 
fully in the greenery between the two ridges on that early 
July morning when the Army of Northern Virginia was 
hastening to concentrate itself upon the little town. 

The vapors of the recent rains yet hung in purple 
glooms over the valley, and the morning sun, struggling 
through, struck sharply against them and shattered them 
into prismatic tints that shed a glory over the scene and 
crowned the summit of South Mountain with a jeweled 
circlet. 

Before a storm all nature stands in hushed expectancy. 
The winds sleep in their far-off caves of rest. The air is 
motionless, and the earth breathes not. There is not the 
faintest quivering in the leaves of the mighty forest. The 
birds cower timidly, hidden away among the shady 
branches, their wings folded, their voices hushed in ter- 
ror. The clouds droop heavily over the earth and do not 
seem to move. Earth and sea and sky, all trembling, wait. 

So, in the silence of the night of the 30th of June, the 
two armies concentrated their forces amid a hush un- 
broken, in preparation for the mighty conflict that should 
shake the continent. 



2/2 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Lee spent the night of the 30th in Longstreet's camp 
in consultation, and the next morning the two generals 
rode through the mountain pass to the field of the ap- 
proaching conflict. As they went they heard the reports 
of cannon shivering the silence of the soft June air. Lee 
left Longstreet and hastened toward Gettysburg. 

On the west of Gettysburg, beyond Seminary Ridge, 
is Willoughby Run, the companion stream to Rock Creek 
on the east. Here the Union troops, under Gamble, were 
stationed, extending to the Hagerstown road, the reserve 
being massed along the ridge which descends from Oak 
Hill in advance of Seminary Hill. The artillery was so 
displayed as to enfilade three roads. Thus it awaited the 
approach of Heth rapidly advancing along the Cashtown 
road. 

Heth deployed his two advance brigades, Davis's on the 
left and Archer's on the right, south of the Chambersburg 
road. About eight o'clock, the Confederate line descended 
the wooded slope of the right bank of Willoughby Run, 
and the battle of Gettysburg, that wonderful event which 
resulted from so many unforeseen accidents and apparent 
trifles, was opened; the first battle upon the soil of a 
Northern State had fairly begun, the battle which was to 
decide how the map of the continent should in future be 
drawn — perhaps the map of two continents, for all Europe 
was watching the conflict with an intensity of interest not 
based solely upon altruistic grounds. 

The banks of the little stream became the scene of a 
fierce conflict. Before the furious onset of Heth's divi- 
sions, Buford held his ground by a desperate effort, endeav- 
oring to gain time for Reynolds to arrive. He directed 
in person the fire of his artillery, prepared to lead back 
his small command to Cemetery Hill should it become 
necessary. Hill, at Cashtown, had heard the echo of the 



GE TTYSB URG — FIRST DA Y. 273 

cannon and had left his bed of illness to hasten to the 
conflict. 

When Buford was about to give the order for retreat 
the signal-officer in the observatory of the Seminary, look- 
ing anxiously out to see if, perchance, he might find some 
hope for the Union cavalry, descried a column of infantry 
marching up the Emmitsburg road. He needed no glim- 
mer of stars and stripes, no familiar battle-cry, to tell 
whether friend or foe was advancing. Only friends could 
come up that road. For the moment, Buford was saved. 
Reynolds had come, bringing with him the information 
that Wadsworth's division was near. 

It was forty-five minutes past nine o'clock when Buford 
dashed pell-mell down the belfry-stairs to greet Reynolds 
with the somewhat profanely graphic statement, "The 
devil is to pay." " But we can hold on till the First Corps 
comes," was the confident reply, and the two friends, with 
the battle-ardor hot upon them, galloped into the storm 
to cheer the sinking hearts of Gamble's men on the hotly 
contested banks of Willoughby Run. At ten o'clock, 
Wadsworth's division, only two brigades, one under Cut- 
ler and the other Meredith's Iron Brigade, whose metal 
would be thoroughly tested that day, presented a glitter- 
ing array on Seminary Hill. 

West of Willoughby's Run was a small triangular piece 
of woodland which, for the Federals, became the scene of 
the greatest tragedy of the first day of Gettysburg. It 
reached almost to the summit of a ridge southwest of Oak 
Hill, and if Archer secured it he would have a safe cover 
for his attack. The advantage of this position was im- 
pressed upon the minds of the opposing leaders at the 
same time. Reynolds and the Iron Brigade entered the 
wood and in the contest which followed Reynolds was 
shot. He was a Mexican veteran, a military leader of re- 

18 



274 PlCk'ETT AXD HIS MEN. 

markabie power, who was described by Meade as the 
noblest and bravest of all whom the Army of the Potomac 
lost on the field of battle. 

Meredith's soldiers pushed on, and Archer was so 
quickly surrounded that he had no opportunity of com- 
municating with Heth, and was compelled to surrender. 

As Heth was preparing to renew the attack Double- 
day received reinforcements, among them Stone's brigade 
of Pennsylvania " Bucktails," who were posted on the 
right of McPherson's Wood, where they were vigorously 
attacked by Pettigrew. "We have come to stay!" they 
cried as they took their places. General Doubleday said 
afterward, "They kept their word; for the ground was an 
open one, the position extremely exposed, and a large num- 
ber of them fell upon that spot, never to leave it again." 

Noon brought Howard's corps, the Eleventh, two divi- 
sions of which were posted on Seminary Ridge, and the 
other as reserves on Cemetery Hill. 

In the meantime Ewell, at Heidlersburg, had heard 
the cannon, and had been marching from early morning 
at the head of his veteran troops, and now swept down 
like a whirlwind upon Howard. The right flank wavered 
and broke beneath the onslaught of Rodes as he came 
southward from Oak Hill. Rodes having marched dur- 
ing the morning in the direction of Cashtown before he 
received instructions to proceed to Gettysburg, had un- 
fortunately lost two hours at a time when hours were too 
valuable to be estimated in terms of any other precious 
article. 

Ewell had been detained for a time by the Federal 
cavalry. He did not wish to become seriously engaged 
in battle until he heard from Early, who was to come 
from Heidlersburg. The importance of Oak Hill as a 
post of vantage impressed him at once, and he directed 



GETTYSBURG— FIRST DAY. 27$ 

Rodes to take possession of it. The arrival of Ewell on 
the Heidlersburg road would bring him to the rear of 
Doubleday, who would thus be imprisoned between him 
and Hill with whom he was fighting. This would more 
than compensate for Howard's reinforcement. 

Sickles was marching to the field, and Howard's line 
must be held until he came. Howard had not perceived 
the danger descending from the north, and directed Schurz 
to post Schimmelpfennig on Oak Hill, which he was pro- 
ceeding to do when Rodes appeared upon the desired 
point. Just then Howard learned of the approach of 
Ewell, whose artillery opened fire obliquely upon Double- 
day's line, and was weakly met by an ineffective counter-fire. 

Ewell, coming down the Heidlersburg road, would 
probably strike the position which Schurz was trying to 
hold between Oak Hill and the Mummasburg road. 

From the western slope of Oak Hill, Rodes's artillery 
made incessant warfare on Doubleday's guns on the 
Cashtown road and drove them back almost to the Semi- 
nary. Rodes sent O'Neal's brigade against Doubleday's 
reserves who were advancing to his aid. From behind a 
stone wall the Federals repelled O'Neal's desperate 
charge. Already shattered by Howard's batteries it was 
with great difificulty that O'Neal rallied when beyond the 
reach of the fire. To the left the Union forces found an- 
other wall behind which they met the charge of Iverson, 
and just at the crucial moment received reinforcements 
sent by Doubleday. 

Doubleday still held the points he had gained on Wil- 
loughby Run. Meredith retained that tragic wood where 
the Federals met with their saddest loss of the great battle, 
Behind the chain of hills Cooper's batteries enfiladed the 
slopes of Seminary Ridge from south to north. 

Iverson's force made an attack here, vigorous but un- 



276 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

availincr, Daniel being far away and unable to arrive in 
time to support the brave Iverson. With the aid of Pet- 
tigrew he succeeded in driving Stone from his position. 
A concerted attack against the First Federal Corps sent it 
back to a cross-road between the Carlisle and the Mum- 
masburg roads, a fence-lined road at which Schim- 
melpfennig was able for a moment to reform his troops. 

Ewell had been watching the waste of strength directed 
against Doubleday, but now he saw in the distance a sure 
harbinger of victory, Early coming up the Heidlersburg 
road, the road which had brought so much comfort to the 
Confederates since morning dawned. 

Over the golden glory of the wheat-field, shining bril- 
liantly in the sun, was a silvery gleam of bayonets. No 
fairer sight ever dawned upon the longing vision of a 
soldier on the battle-field. The sound of their musketry 
rang out in one grand report, and then they rushed to the 
assault. The Eleventh Corps retreated in confusion, the 
First continued the struggle for a time and fell back. The 
woodland which had been held by the Federals since the 
early morning contest was relinquished. 

At four o'clock, Pender's three brigades held the first 
line, covering Heth's exhausted troops. They advanced 
toward Seminary Ridge where for a time they were 
checked by Doubleday. Before sunset the Federals had 
retreated to the little town and Hill held Seminary Ridge. 
The Federals made an effort to hold the town but were 
forced back to Cemetery Ridge, leaving four thousand of 
their number prisoners in the town, and abandoning in the 
streets two cannon which were secured by Ewell. 

Early was informed by one of his brigadiers, " Extra- 
Billy " Smith, that the Confederate left was threatened by 
a Federal force approaching on the York road. Gordon 
was sent to ward off this supposed danger. This left 



GE TTYSB URG — FIRST DA Y. 2/7 

only the brigades of Hoke and Hays to help Ewell 
pursue the Union forces and wrest from them the cov- 
eted hill. Far up on the rugged height was a deadly 
crest of frowning guns rolling their awful thunder across 
the valley. Their lightnings flashed like merciless swords 
through the heavy clouds of battle-smoke. Gordon was 
still absent, and the brigades of Rodes were exhausted 
with heavy marching and yet heavier fighting. Ewell 
was brave, but there are times when even the bravest 
dare not. 

Hill's two divisions had been engaged in the recent at- 
tack against the First Corps and he was not willing to send 
them again into battle. Longstreet's men had not been 
able to pass Ewell's wagon-train. Johnson had eighteen 
miles to march and had not arrived, and Anderson was in 
the rear of Johnson. When Johnson's division, which was 
the first reinforcement, came up, the sun had set and the 
plan of attack was abandoned. 

Johnson took position at Rock Creek, intending to oc- 
cupy Culp's Hill, almost joining Cemetery Hill on the 
east. Had he mounted a battery on Culp's Hill the Fed- 
eral position on Cemetery would have become untenable. 
Ewell also thought of taking possession of Culp, and 
would not fall back to Seminary Ridge, in accordance 
with Lee's suggestion. 

At four o'clock, Hancock arrived, took command of 
the defeated Union army and became the savior of the 
battle of Gettysburg to the Federals. The Eleventh 
Corps reformed around Von Steinwehr across the Taney- 
town and Baltimore roads. Hancock placed two of 
Doubleday's divisions on the heights resting on the Em- 
mitsburg road. Wadsworth's division was stationed on 
Culp's Hill, which commands the valley of Rock Creek, 
faces Wolf's Hill and Benner's Hill, and protects Ceme- 



278 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

tery Hill, a position the importance of which could not 
be overestimated in the crisis at which the fortunes of the 
Army of the Potomac had arrived. 

At the time of Hancock's arrival on the field Lee stood 
on the heights opposite and looked over at Cemetery and 
Gulp's. At his feet was Gettysburg filled with Ewell's 
victorious Southrons, flaming with ardor, strong with the 
intoxicating wine of success. Above were the slopes of 
Cemetery Hill, covered with defeated, disorganized, panic- 
stricken men, with no dominant mind to reduce them to 
order. One glorious rush across that blood-drenched 
vale, and another flag might proudly float over the seas 
of the world. 

Lee could not know the weakness of the opposing 
force. He knew that his own army was scattered. Long- 
street's men had marched all day and did not reach Wil- 
loughby Run until midnight. A general engagement 
could not be risked in the absence of so large a part of his 
army. "Gentlemen, we will attack the enemy in the 
morning as early as practicable," said General Lee at the 
close of a conference with his generals. 

Although Lee had said before leaving Virginia that 
he would not fight an offensive battle, the events which 
had taken place in his absence had produced a situa- 
tion which rendered it very difBcult to carry out his 
original purpose. He had captured more prisoners than 
he had lost and, though suffering greatly by the casual- 
ties of the first day, he had inflicted heavy losses on 
the Federals and driven them from their strong posi- 
tion. He had taken possession of the field and of the 
town. He had every reason to be satisfied with the 
work of his army. In his report, having set forth the 
situation which resulted from the events of the first day, 
he continues: 



GETTYSBURG — FIRST DAY. 279 

Encouraged by the successful issue of the engagement of the first 
day, and in view of the valuable results that would ensue from the defeat 
of the army of General Meade, it was thought advisable to renew the 
attack. 

At five o'clock the Federals, under the skilful manage- 
ment of Hancock, were strongly posted on Cemetery Hill, 
and held Gulp's Hill. Sickles and Birney were coming up 
the Emmitsburg road with troops yet unworn by the 
fatigue of battle. A little later Slocum arrived from 
Taneytown with the Twelfth Corps, and to him Hancock 
turned over the command. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

GETTYSBURG — SECOND DAY. 

At daybreak on the 2d, Ewell's corps held the town of 
Gettysburg, Banner's Hill, a ridge connecting Gulp's Hill 
with Cemetery Hill, and a line from Gettysburg to Semi- 
nary Ridge, where the main army was drawn up. 

On the ridge, Pender was at the left above the Semi- 
nary, Heth to the right, Anderson's division a mile and a 
half to the rear on the Cashtown road between Marsh 
Creek and Willoughby Run. 

At four o'clock Hood, McLaws, and Anderson were 
advancing toward Gettysburg while waiting for orders to 
take position. Pickett was leaving Chambersburg, where 
he had been left with his three brigades to guard trains, 
and Stuart was quitting Carlisle in great haste to join Lee. 

By nine o'clock in the morning the whole Confederate 
army was assembled around Gettysburg, except Stuart's 
cavalry and the five thousand infantry which Pickett could 
bring into line. Had this concentration taken place 
earlier, the attack could have been made against the scat- 
tered forces of Meade with every prospect of success. 

Opposed to them was a force stretched along Ceme- 
tery Ridge, and a division on Gulp's Hill, with lines in 
reserve. Meade came upon the field at one o'clock, 
crossing the cemetery where, among the stones sacred to 
the happy dead, the wretched living lay, stretched out in 
a sorrowful death in life. Disturbed by the advancing 
tread of the horses of Meade and his staff, some of the 
exhausted men started up, looking like ghosts in the 

280 



GETTYSBURG— SECOND DAY. 28 1 

light of the moon, and then lay down again, overcome by 
a fatigue for which there could be no rest. 

In the early dawn the Federal commander inspected 
the position and placed his troops as they arrived. Slo- 
cum was posted on Gulp's Hill, the barb of the fish-hook; 
Wadsworth at his left; Howard at the bend on Cemetery 
Hill, protected by the stone walls at the foot of the hill 
and Steinwehr's guns at the crest. 

When Hancock's corps, the Second, arrived at seven 
o'clock in the morning it was placed on the stem of the 
hook to the left of Cemetery Hill. Sickles, with the 
Third Corps, who had come upon the field in the night, 
was posted on Hancock's left. Reynolds's corps, the 
First, commanded by Newton, who had been ordered 
from the Sixth Corps for the purpose, was in reserve 
at the east of the north part of the stem. Sykes, with 
the Fifth Corps, was placed behind Round Top as a 
reserve. It held this position until the arrival of the 
Sixth Corps, under Sedgwick, which had marched from 
Manchester and was on the field at three o'clock Then 
the Fifth Corps was moved forward to the extreme left 
of the line and the Sixth took its place. 

The Federal army occupied a space of about three 
miles, and formed a convex curve which admitted' of 
ready condensation. Batteries gloomed darkly down 
from the crest of the ridge. Signal-flags fluttered from 
the tall peaks overlooking the valley. The line ex- 
tended southward from Cemetery Hill to the Round 
Tops. It reached across the Baltimore road to the 
woodlands of Rock Creek and the ravines of Wolf's 
Hill. At nine o'clock Meade's army was posted and 
waiting for the attack. As Meade was inspecting his 
ground while Aurora was yet coyly flirting with day, 
over on the opposite ridge Lee, Hill, Longstreet, and 



282 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Hood were consulting in regard to preparations for the 
coming ordeal. 

Lee might retire into the passes of the mountains. 
Then Meade would have to leave his strong position and go 
after him, thus losing all he had gained, and being unable 
to use to advantage the large reinforcements which had 
come to his aid. This would look like a retreat, and hav- 
ing fairly won the first day Lee did not doubt his ability 
to win the second. 

He might wait where he was for Meade's attack, 
which would draw the Army of the Potomac from its 
stronghold and give Lee the advantage of position; but 
he could not stay long concentrated upon the hills, for 
he had no store from which to gain supplies. The ad- 
vantage would be upon the side of the enemy. More- 
over, the soldiers, full of the enthusiasm of success, would 
not keep their martial fire through a period of waiting. 

He must either draw Meade from his strong position, 
or attack him where he was. He decided to take the lat- 
ter course, which was, perhaps, the more dangerous, but 
it had the advantage of meeting the wishes of his soldiers, 
upon whom retreat might have a demoralizing effect. 

Longstreet urged a movement around Meade's left. 
Lee rejected this plan, and expressed his impatience to 
have Longstreet begin his attack. 

"The enemy is here," he said, "and if we do not whip 
him, he will whip us." 

General Longstreet replied: "I never like to go into 
battle with one boot off, and I would rather wait for 
Pickett." 

Lee ordered Longstreet to lead his corps into action 
along the Emmitsburg road. General Lee then rode into 
Gettysburg and to Ewell's headquarters. When Ewell 
should hear the sound of the attack upon the left he was 



GETTYSBURG— SECOND DAY. 283 

to open on the right, and the center was to fall into battle 
when the Federal line should appear to be shaken. 

Two divisions of Longstreet were on the right, Hill cen- 
ter, Ewell left. Johnson's division was east of Gulp's Hill, 
and Early and Rodes formed a line through Gettysburg. 
To the right of Rodes was Pender's division. Extended 
along Seminary Ridge were the other divisions of the 
Third Gorps. McLaws's division was opposite Sickles, 
and Hood's three brigades were bearing directly upon 
Round Top. Pickett's brigades were still at Chambers- 
burg and did not reach the field until the third. Law 
was marching from New Guilford. Along the eastern 
edge of the ridge the artillery looked out ominously to 
the enemy. 

The Confederate army formed a deadly five-mile 
crescent around Seminary Ridge and the east of Gettys- 
burg, its concavity turned hospitably to the enemy op- 
posite. It was sheltered by a dense growth of oaks and 
pines on the top and the western slope of the ridge. 

Down below mild-eyed cattle peacefully enjoyed their 
early breakfast, all unwitting of the baleful schemes of 
men. The golden wheat made a vivid sea of color, wav- 
ing gently in the wind of the beautiful summer morning. 

Longstreet awaited the arrival of Law's brigade, 
which reached the field at noon after a march of twenty- 
eight miles in eleven hours. With the rest of Hood's 
division it took position behind the right of the Third 
Corps. Alexander's batteries were posted on Seminary 
Hill. 

Meade felt so strong in his position for defense that 
he supposed Lee would also recognize his invincibility, 
and would decline to attack him in front, confining his 
operations to a flank movement which would turn him out 
of his position. He held a council of his corpb com- 



284 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

manders and, with their approval, directed Butterfield to 
prepare a detailed order for the withdrawal of the troops 
if his apprehensions should be verified. Longstreet's 
guns broke up the conference and called Meade to the de- 
fense of his left. 

Sickles had left his troops in charge of Birney and had 
gone to the council in Meade's headquarters. When the 
roar of the cannon called the chiefs back to their posts, 
Meade followed Sickles, who was posted on ground that was 
low and commanded by an elevation in its front, being 
therefore untenable. He had applied for permission to 
occupy more elevated ground half or three-quarters of a 
mile in front. Receiving no order, and his outposts hav- 
ing been driven back, he took the ground connecting 
with Round Top and Hancock, technically carrying out 
instructions. This weakened his line and presented too 
great a front for so small a corps. From the peach-or- 
chard it was refused to a wheat-field, forming a deadly 
salient at the orchard, which has since held a gruesome 
place in history as the " Bloody Angle." Meade felt un- 
certain as to whether this ground could be held, and sent 
for reinforcements. Sickles proposed to fall back, but it 
was too late. He was still further endangered by the re- 
moval of Buford's cavalry from the left, which had been 
ordered away by Pleasanton. 

The weak points of the line were covered as well as 
possible by the five batteries of the Third Corps and three 
others from the reserve artillery. Thirty pieces of cannon 
defended the orchard. In the wheat-field were twelve 
howitzers. A battery on Devil's Den commanded the 
gorge of Plum Run and all the wooded slopes as far as 
the Emmitsburg road. 

Lee was quick to detect his advantage, and expected 
to reach the crest of the ridge from this point. He directed 



GETTYSBURG— SECOND DAY. 285 

Longstreet to carry the position, while Ewell attacked the 
high ground to the right. General Hill threatened the 
center of the line. 

Longstreet formed his line of battle, with Hood upon the 
right and McLaws to the left, Anderson's division of Hill's 
corps being on the left of McLaws. On an elevation to the 
left he posted his artillery. Between three and four o'clock 
the artillery engagement began with appalling effect on 
both sides. The tide of battle rolled on with frightful ve- 
locity and power toward the peach-orchard and dashed 
upon the fatal angle, open to attack upon two sides. 

The artillery fire grew heavier, and Hood opened the 
nght to the east. He perceiv d the importance of Little 
Round Top, hitherto left unguarded as a mere signal- 
station, and ordered Law to the attack. Robertson 
dashed forward against Devil's Den, and the fierce 
struggle which took place among its rocky slopes well 
proved its title to its name of ill omen. 

When the charge upon Little Round Top began only a 
thin Federal line, misty and insubstantial in the distance, 
protected that coveted point. When Hood's valiant men 
reached the frail barrier that had been like a gauze veil 
floating in the air it had suddenly concentrated into a wall 
of iron from which blazed forth blinding sheets of flame. 

Warren had a short time before ascended Little Round 
Top for the purpose of viewing the field, and had seen the 
long line of bayonets winding in and out like a silver ser- 
pent among the leaves in the forest opposite. Recogniz- 
ing the importance of the hill on which he stood he per- 
ceived at once that the Confederates had also appreciated 
its value, and that it was the object of this gleaming array 
of arms. 

When the signal-ofificers on the crest of the hill saw 
the advance they furled their flags and prepared to leave 



286 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

the position without a contest. Warren directed them to 
unfurl their flags and signal for help. Sykes sent Colonel 
Vincent with a brigade of the Fifth Corps to the foot of 
Little Round Top. Hazlett's battery struggled up the 
rocky acclivity and amid a heavy rain of bullets took posi- 
tion, circling the crest with a deadly coronet. 

Colonel Patrick O'Rourke, with the One Hundred and 
Fortieth New York, dashed up the hill and came face to 
face with the almost victorious soldiers of Law climb- 
ing up the opposite side. The Federal muskets were 
empty but there was no time to load. "This way, boys!" 
shouted O'Rourke, drawing his sword and circling it high 
in the air. Over the height he rushed and down the slope 
into a sea of fire and smoke from which his gallant soul 
went up above the warfare of the world. 

Hood's Texans dashed again and again upon the flam- 
ing wall which protected Little Round Top. Again and 
again they were driven back, only to rush forward once 
more with still greater impetuosity. The gallant Hood, 
the inspiration of the ardent Texans, was wounded and 
Law led on the charge. 

Vincent, defending the hill at its base, followed O'Rourke 
beyond the battle. Weed fell upon the flame-girdled 
crest, and Hazlett, bending over to catch his last dying 
words, sank lifeless across the dying chief. 

The valor of Hood's Texans and Law's men of 
Alabama had not dimmed, but they had lost heavily in 
their fierce charges. As they rushed again upon the 
height they were cut in two and overwhelmed by " Cham- 
berlain's wedge," which was skilfully formed by accelerat- 
ing the motion of the center of the regiment, the Twen- 
tieth Maine, and retarding that of the wings. 

Brave Texans, noble sons of Alabama, no more price- 
less treasure sanctifies the field of Gettysburg than your 



GETTYSBURG — SECOND DAY. 287 

life-blood which crimsoned the waves of Plum Run, rip- 
pling past the foot of Little Round Top. 

In five minutes the Federals had gained the dominant 
point of the second day's fight. 

While the contest for Little Round Top was raging 
McLaws and Anderson attacked the refused line of 
Sickles, commanded by Birney, making the weak point 
near the peach-orchard the object of the fiercest assault. 

On the slopes of Plum Run was Meagher's Irish 
brigade, with the golden harp shining brilliantly on that 
field of green so dear to the sons of Erin, who have 
borne their flag in triumph over the battle-fields of all 
nations. 

" Meagher of the Sword," who had gallantly led them to 
battle on so many bloody fields, at whose signal they had 
rushed up Marye's Height where the "blossoms of blood 
on their sprigs of green " flower in immortal glory on the 
rugged slopes, was not with them now. The Irish hero 
had fallen a thrice-honored victim to the petty malice 
which pervaded the War Department in Washington, and 
had relinquished a position which his brave heart and 
sensitive honor would not permit him longer to hold. 

At the moment for joining the attack, the ranks knelt, 
and the priest, their chaplain, from a natural pulpit of 
stone, pronounced a general absolution. The command 
"Forward!" followed and the Irish brigade rushed into 
the fight and stopped Anderson's advance. 

Alexander's guns poured destruction upon the " bloody 
angle," moving forward in the desperate charge led by 
Barksdale against that fatal salient. Under that impetu- 
ous assault Sickles's line fell back across the stone wall. 
Sickles, standing with his staff at the Trostle House, was 
struck by a ball which broke his leg and he was carried 
into the house. The command was transferred to Birney, 



288 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Hancock having general supervision of the Second and 
Third Corps. 

To the west and south of the orchard the battle raged 
with increasing fury. It spread over the wheat-field, and 
the golden grain was crushed and stained with its crimson 
flow. Out of five thousand men Birney's division had 
lost two thousand. The batteries on the right of the line 
were withdrawn, the left continued firing, retreating a 
step at each discharge. As Birney's line fell back Hum- 
phreys, looking toward the west, swung with it to preserve 
the line, leaving a weak point at the Emmitsburg road. 

Three brigades were on the march to attack Hum- 
phreys, who had left half his troops on the field, and whose 
flags alone showed that but a short time ago, he had led 
ten regiments. Only one regiment, the First Minnesota, 
was within call, though heavy reinforcements could be 
brought to Humphreys's aid if a little time could be gained. 
"Do you see those colors?" cried Hancock, pointing to 
the flags which waved over the advancing brigade. " Take 
them!" The regiment dashed forward, losing eighty-two 
per cent, of its number, but the colors were captured, and 
in the pause which followed reserve artillery was brought 
forward, and reinforcements were sent from the Federal 
right. 

Anderson's and Pender's troops were waiting for an 
order to take Ziegler's Grove, but it did not come. Pender 
hastened forward, evidently to lead his men to the attack. 
A shell burst and Pender was carried back, mortally 
wounded. Anderson attempted to join lines with Mc- 
Laws, thereby weakening his line. 

The little wood in front of Round Top was still held 
by a Federal force which was retreating when the battle- 
chorus of a brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves was 
heard, and McCandless's men came sweeping down to the 



GETTYSBURG— SECOND DAY. 28g 

stone wall at the edge of the road behind which some 
Confederates lay hidden, bearing them back and ending 
the fight on the ground about the Round Tops. 

Day will not wait for victory or defeat. The sun glides 
down the west, just as on other days, and its last rays fall 
athwart Seminary Hill and become entangled in the bat- 
tle-clouds that gloom over Cemetery Hill and the Round 
Tops. They grow dim and blurred in the heavy smoke 
and shiver into lurid tints. 

Thus it looks on the last effort of the gallant Confed- 
erate right to save the second day of Gettysburg. 

It sees the valiant Barksdale, a vivid flame of war, 
flashing over the battle-field, his long white hair stream- 
ing like a snowy banner in the battle-wind. It sees him 
fall. It watches the heroic efforts of his ardent Missis- 
sippians to save him, and sees them beaten back, leaving 
their dying chief in the hands of the foe. 

It sees the wild dash of Wright at the head of his mag- 
nificent Georgians, up the slope, over stone walls to the 
crest of the ridge, to the very mouths of the vengeful 
guns. Wilcox is at the base. Perry has fallen back, far 
away are all the troops which might have helped to hold 
the position so gallantly won. The Federal line closes 
up, Wright and his heroic Georgians fall back, and the 
day is lost. 

Lee, Hill, and Anderson, over on Seminary Hill, were 
also watching that sad and thrilling scene. The sun 
grew weary of it all, and went beyond the horizon to shine, 
we may hope, upon fairer scenes than these, but the other 
three looked until nightfall — looked on in silence. 

The purple veil of the summer twilight fell slowly 
and solemnly over the field. The darker veil of defeat 
shrouded Longstreet's gallant men. 

So zealous had the Federal commander been in his 

19 



290 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

efforts to strengthen the left that he had reduced his right 
to the lowest point compatible with existence. 

Lee had directed Ewell to attack upon that side at the 
same time that Longstreet's guns opened upon the peach- 
orchard, the thunder of his cannon to be the signal. For 
the second time the wind had not blown fair for the Con- 
federate cause, and the report of the guns did not reach 
the ear of Ewell. Consequently, his attack was delayed 
two hours after the opening on the right. The sound of 
Hill's guns at five o'clock first announced to Ewell the 
fact that the battle was on, and his batteries began the at- 
tack. They were soon silenced by the guns of Weiderick 
and Ricketts on Cemetery Hill, which being protected by 
lunettes, had an advantage over Ewell's unprotected 
batteries. 

To the east of Gettysburg from behind a hill came 
long lines of infantry moving on in grand array. Stevens's 
battery, between Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill, opened 
upon them a terrific fire, enfilading the line, and from 
the long blue ranks on Cemetery Hill poured a heavy rain 
of lead and flame, beating them to the earth. 

From the stone wall Howard's infantry swept them 
down like grain before the scythe. They did not pause. 
The famous Louisiana Tigers were leading, and they 
would go forward while there were enough of them left 
to charge upon the foe. 

The brigades of Hoke and Hays followed. They 
cleared the stone wall and Stevens ceased firing lest his 
friends should fall victims. Weiderick's men were borne 
back. Ricketts's guns alone poured death into the as- 
saulting column. Over the battery was a fierce hand-to- 
hand struggle, and the gunners were almost overpowered, 
when Carroll's men rushed to the rescue, and the Tigers 
who had ascended the slope seventeen hundred strong. 



GETTYSBURG — SECOND DAY. ..gi 

triumphant in the pride of never having been defeated in 
a charge, reeled back, five hundred in number, never again 
to be known to battle-field. 

Brave Tigers, whose lines of life were but faintly illu- 
mined by the light in which evolves that inborn inheritance 
of all mankind, an undeveloped soul — under the influence 
of a noble, grand and heroic purpose they displayed that 
God-given greatness which commanded the admiration 
and respect of both armies. 

While the Tigers were making their daring and bril- 
liant charge Johnson crossed Rock Creek and came 
through the forest against the Union skirmishers, driving 
them in. Under the heavy fire of Greene's and Wads- 
worth's men, Johnson passed around to the right, and took 
possession of the breastworks which had been constructed 
with much labor and care and then vacated in the effort 
to reinforce Sickles. After a fierce battle Johnson was 
dislodged and passed through the woods in the rear and 
almost reached the Baltimore road, coming within mus- 
ket-range of the headquarters of General Slocum, the 
commander of the Union right wing. Had Ewell known 
the advantage he had gained he might have set the whole 
Federal army in retreat. 

Behind Round Top the Sixth Corps alone kept guard 
through the long hours of the night, their gaze turned north- 
ward, anxiously watching for the long dark line to loom up 
heavily in the spectral moonlight. The radiance of that fair 
July night lit no advancing columns, but only groups of 
gray-clad men resting on their arms under the whispering 
leaves of the forest of Rock Creek, and southward where 
Round Top stood deeply silhouetted against a silvery back- 
ground, a dark wall of soldiers standing at gaze, their bayo- 
nets flashing back the rays of the moon, and their guns 
glooming darkly against the glittering curtain of night. 



292 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The mystic light grew dim and the moon hid behind 
dark veils of cloud. The soft rain fell on the woodlands 
of Rock Creek and on the Round Tops hidden away in 
the folds of the heavy clouds. It dropped gently on the 
stones above the peaceful sleepers in the mountain ceme- 
tery and on the weary, restless slumberers on the blood- 
drenched ground. Still the gray groups sheltered them- 
selves under the trees that bordered the rippling stream, 
and down behind the rugged slope of Round Top the 
watchers kept silent guard till the dawn of a new day 
faintly silvered the east. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

GETTYSBURG — THIRD DAY. 

Pickett's division — reserved for the last great scene in 
the tragedy of Gettysburg — had not yet entered the circle 
of fire which environed the mountains, filled the valleys 
with death, and turned the silvery streams into rivers of 
blood. 

Until the night of July i the three brigades under 
Pickett's command, Corse and Jenkins having been left 
behind, remained on guard at Chambersburg. Being then 
relieved by Imboden, at two o'clock on the morning of 
the 2d, they were under marching orders and moving 
along the Gettysburg road. In the pass of the South 
Mountain a fire flashed upon them from sharpshooters 
stationed in the gorges of the crags. 

On the east side of the range the air trembled with the 
battle-rage of Gettysburg. The ardor of the men kindled 
into flame, and with eager, impatient feet they pressed 
forward to answer the call. Through the intense heat of 
one of the most fiery days with which July ever scorched 
the earth Pickett's men marched twenty-four miles and 
at two o'clock in the afternoon halted three miles from 
Gettysburg. 

Though they were parched with heat and worn by the 
march, their commander sent his inspector-general, Colo- 
nel Walter Harrison, to report to Lee their position and 
condition and to tell him that, notwithstanding their fa- 
tigue, they could with two hours' rest be in any part of 
the field in which he might wish to use them. 

293 



294 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Pickett rode on to meet Longstreet, who had ex- 
pressed a desire to see him, and who, though relieved and 
delighted by his arrival upon the field, manifested great 
anxiety. While conversing with Longstreet Pickett 
viewed the ground and watched the fight in front of Lit- 
tle Round Top, where the other two divisions of Long- 
street's corps under Hood and McLaws, having started 
twenty-four hours in advance of his three brigades, had 
struck the corps commanded by Sickles. He was thus 
engaged when Colonel Harrison rode up with Lee's reply: 
"Tell General Pickett that I shall not want him this even- 
ing; to let his men rest, and I will send him word when 
I want him." 

Pickett and Harrison left Longstreet still fighting with 
fearless tenacity in front of Round Top, and rode back to 
the division to seek such rest as they might find. They 
had viewed the field, had studied its advantages and dis- 
advantages, had witnessed the terrific struggle, had 
watched A. P. Hill's attack upon the center, thoroughly 
understood the situation, and knew that before them lay 
a dark and tragic day, 

Lee had not been so successful on the second day as 
on the first, but he had gained some ground by a series of 
brilliant movements, and his repulses had been attended 
with heavy loss to the enemy. In his report he says: 
"These partial successes determined me to'continue the 
assault next day." 

On the afternoon of the 2d Stuart came in from Car- 
lisle and joined Lee on Seminary Ridge. He was followed 
by Kilpatrick, who lost about thirty men in a skirmish with 
Hampton, the latter having been left by Stuart at Hunters- 
town to prevent the Federal troopers from falling upon 
Ewell's rear. 

Lee had concentrated more than a hundred guns 



GETTYSBURG— THIRD DAY. .295 

against the left center, under Hancock, posted on Ceme- 
tery Ridge, witii Howard on the right and Sedgwick, 
Sykes, and Sickles on the left. 

In the moonlight of that radiant night the Federals re- 
formed their lines among their fallen comrades. Perhaps 
many a leader echoed in his heart the softly breathed as- 
piration of Birney, "I wish I were already dead," as he 
looked upon the few who were left to follow him, and the 
many who lay in unbroken rest while the storm of battle 
swept unheeded over them. 

As early as three o'clock on the morning of the 3d of 
July Pickett's division was under arms and moving to the 
right and southeast of the Cashtown and Gettysburg 
road. Line of battle was formed, facing Cemetery Ridge, 
Kemper's brigade on the right, Garnett's on the left, and 
Armistead immediately in rear of Kemper and Garnett, 
there not being room for all in extended line of battle. 

The fences and other obstructions were cleared away. 
The line was formed a little to the left of Meade's 
center. On the left was Heth's division, commanded by 
Brigadier-General Pettigrew. To Pettigrew's left and 
rear were two brigades of Pender's division, commanded 
by Brigadier-General Trimble. Wilcox's brigade was 
lying -about two hundred yards in front of our line. 
Orders were given to the men to lie down and keep still, 
that they might not attract the attention of the enemy. 

In obedience to a summons from Longstreet, Pickett 
rode to the top of the ridge in front, where Lee and Long- 
street were making a reconnoissance of Meade's position, 
which seemed to be of invincible strength. The clouds 
of the early morning had drifted away and the sun shone 
out with intense brightness and heat. In its light were 
revealed all the difficulties of the ground between the 
Confederate line and the point of attack. Woods, 



296 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

streams, and steep hills impeded the movements of the 
Confederate guns and necessitated a fight with infantry 
against the Federal batteries. In the lower ground, be- 
yond this space, the enemy had thrown out a very heavy 
skirmish-line. The ridge was defended by two tiers of 
artillery, supported by a double line of infantry. Heavy 
reserves of infantry were ranged in double column on the 
crest of the heights, protected by a stone wall extending 
along the side of the ridge. Across the lowland was a 
rail fence to obstruct the march of our troops. In order 
to come to close quarters with the enemy our men would 
be compelled to charge over half a mile of open ground 
in the face of a terrible rain of canister and shrapnel. 

At twenty minutes to four the report of Geary's pistol 
rang out from the Federal lines, shivering the morning 
air with its ominous resonance. This was the signal for 
the beginning of the struggle for Gulp's Hill, to which 
Geary's division had returned in the night. The contest 
was still in progress while Pickett stood with Lee and 
Longstreet on the summit of the ridge. The Federal artil- 
lery on Power Hill and McAllister Hill swept the plateau 
on which Johnson was stationed and where he met the ad- 
vancing infantry. He fought alone until eleven o'clock, 
when his battle was over and he fell back to Rock Creek. 

About eight o'clock Pickett, in company with Lee and 
Longstreet, rode slowly up and down the long line of 
prostrate infantry, viewing them closely and critically. 
The men had been forbidden to cheer, but they volun- 
tarily arose and stood silently with uncovered heads and 
hats held aloft, a motionless dark line against the white 
light of the morning with the gloom of the hills in the 
background. How many of those erect forms, standing so 
rigidly in soldierly strength and pride, would, when the 
sun should go down behind the purple hills, be lying on 



GETTYSBURG— -THIRD DAY. 297 

the plain beyond, nevermore to thrill with the ardor of 
earthly battles! 

When this solemn, silent review was over detachments 
were thrown forward to support the artillery, consisting of 
one hundred and twenty cannon, stretched a mile along the 
crests of Oak Ridge and Seminary Ridge. For five hours 
the July sun poured its scorching rays almost vertically 
down upon the supporting detachments lying in the tall 
grass in the rear of the artillery-line, waiting in anxious 
suspense for some sound or movement to break the awful 
silence of the vast battle-field. The Federals on Ceme- 
tery Hill marveled at the unexpected calm. Why did 
not the long-looked-for attack begin? 

Anderson held the wood west of the wheat-field, a little 
to the north of Devil's Den. On the Emmitsburg road were 
six batteries of the First Corps, forming, with the rest of the 
artillery of this corps stationed near it, a slightly concave 
line of seventy-five pieces along the ridge which Hum- 
phreys had ineffectually tried to hold the day before. At 
the right of the orchard a cross-fire was effected by Henry's 
batteries. Alexander's were posted on the summit of a 
slope to the north, and on his left, a little to the rear, was 
the Washington Artillery, guarded by the battalions of 
Cabell and Dearing. Lee intended to batter the point of 
attack with Alexander's guns, which for that purpose 
were placed ahead of the infantry. The troops which 
were to make the attack were screened from view by the 
ridge, Pickett's three brigades being supported by one of 
Hill's light batteries. The assault was to be supported by 
Hill's artillery on Seminary Hill, and a part of Ewell's 
artillery was to fire on Cemetery Hill. 

Signal-flags fluttered their portentous messages up and 
down the line — death-tokens alike to that living wall 
over which they waved and to the defenders of Cemetery 



298 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Hill. The musketry and artillery fire, which opened at 
eleven o'clock, continued about three-quarters of an hour 
and then ceased. 

Colonel J. J. Phillips, who had been with the division 
in every battle, relates the following to show how well the 
soldiers understood the work which had been marked out 
for them, and how far beyond their strength it was: 

"A gallant son of old Isle of Wight County, before 
the charge was made, and while the artillery thundered 
over the plain, turned to me and said, 'We are ordered to 
charge those heights?' 'Yes,' said I. 'Then,' said he, 
'this will be a sad day for Virginia.' After the battle an- 
other brave soldier, whose fame has compassed the world, 
said, 'This is a sad day for us.' He who said it before 
the battle was J. Frank Crocker, adjutant of the Ninth 
Virginia Infantry; and he who said it after the battle was 
General Robert E. Lee." 

This reminiscence is recalled to show that Pickett's 
men marched into the very jaws of death with the full 
knowledge that they were offering up their lives on the 
altar of duty. 

After the war, General Pickett said that he did not 
believe there was a man in his dear old division who did 
not know, when he heard the order, that in obeying it he 
was marching to death, yet every man of them marched 
forward unfalteringly. 

It was one o'clock. The solemn silence which had 
reigned over the field was suddenly shivered by a cannon- 
shot. A minute passed. The Washington Artillery again 
sent its ominous message thundering through the valley 
and echoing and re-echoing from the mountain-sides. 

While the smoke from the gun still lingered over the 
plain, as if held down by the weight of its heavy meaning, 
and the echo was yet rolling along the distant defiles and 



GETTYSBURG— THIRD DAY. 299 

gorges, the whole line was ablaze, and the thunder and 
crash of more than a hundied guns shook the hills from 
crest to base. From another hundred guns along the 
front of Cemetery Ridge flashed forth an instant reply, 
and the greatest artillery duel of the western continent 
had begun. 

The two ridges were about fourteen hundred yards 
apart, and were like great blazing volcanoes. A mighty 
roar as of all the thunderbolts of the universe filled the 
plain. No command could be heard through the shriek- 
ing shot and shell, for no sound of wind, water, volcano, 
thunder and cataract ever equaled this terrific uproar. 
The valley was filled with clouds of dust and suffocating 
smoke. A rolling sea of white and bluish and gray mist 
tossed its billows to and fro between the heights and blot- 
ted out the rays of the sun. The fierce flames from the 
guns flashed through, cutting the dark mists like lightning 
sabers in a Titanic battle of the clouds. Fiery fuses shot 
across the field, leaving death and mutilation in their mur- 
derous track. Flying missiles pierced the air, shells burst 
above troops, or tore up the ground and bounded off for 
another deadly strike. The Confederate line remained 
steady, although it was exposed to the fire of the enemy, 
which passed over the artillery and struck the infantry 
with terrible effect. 

The ammunition was failing; the artillery combat must 
be closed. After two hours the firing ceased. For half 
an hour silence settled over the blackened field, during 
which time the Confederates were rapidly forming an at- 
tacking column just below the brow of Seminary Ridge. 
Long double lines of infantry came pouring out of the 
woods and levels, across ravines and little valleys, hurry- 
ing on to the positions assigned them in the column. 

Two separate lines of double ranks were formed, a 



300 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

hundred yards apart, and in the center of this column 
were the remnants of the three brigades of Pickett's di- 
vision: Garnett's brigade, the Eighth, Eighteenth, Nine- 
teenth, Twenty-eighth and Fifty-sixth Virginia; Armi- 
stead's brigade, the Ninth, Fourteenth, Thirty-eighth, 
Fifty-third and Fifty-seventh Virginia; Kemper's bri- 
gade. First, Third, Seventh, Eleventh and Twenty-fourth 
Virginia; numbering in all forty-seven hundred and 
sixty-one privates, two hundred and forty-four com- 
pany officers, thirty-two field-officers and four general 
officers. 

Pickett's three brigades were to attack in front where 
there was a bristling hedge of artillery and infantry. 
Heth's and Pender's divisions, under Pettigrew and Trim- 
ble, their leaders having been wounded the day before, 
were to charge in second and third lines of battle, sup- 
porting Pickett's advance. As Heth's division passed on 
it was to be joined by Wilcox's brigade, then about two 
hundred yards in front. Anderson was behind the two 
supporting divisions ready to take Trimble's place when 
he should leave it. 

Pickett rode up to Longstreet for orders. The latter 
seemed greatly depressed and said: 

" I do not want to have your men sacrificed, Pickett, 
so I have sent a note to Alexander, telling him to watch 
carefully the effect of our fire upon the enemy, and that 
when it begins to tell he must take the responsibility and 
notify you himself when to make the attack. He has 
been directed to charge with you at the head of your line 
with a battery of nine eleven-pound howitzers, fresh horses 
and full caissons." 

Just as Longstreet finished this statement a courier 
rode up and handed Pickett a note from Alexander, which 
read: 



GETTYSBURG— THIRD DAY. 3OI 

If you are coming, come at once or I can not give you proper sup- 
port, but the enemy's fire has not slackened at all. At least eighteen 
guns are still firing from the cemetery itself. 

After Pickett had read the note he handed it to Long- 
street. 

"General Longstreet, shall I go forward?" he asked. 

Longstreet looked at him with an expression which 
seldom comes to any face. In that solemn silence mem- 
ories of the long friendship may have flooded his soul. 
Possibly there came to his thought the time away back in 
history when he had fallen on the stormy slope of Cha- 
pultepec, and the boy lieutenant had taken his place and 
borne the battle-flag in triumph to the flame-crowned 
height. He held out his hand and bowed his head in as- 
sent. Not a word did he speak. 

"Then I shall lead my division forward, sir," said 
Pickett, and galloped off. 

He had gone only a few yards when he came back and 
took a letter from his pocket. On it he wrote in pencil, 
" If Old Peter's nod means death, good-by, and God bless 
you, little one!" He gave the letter to Longstreet and 
rode back. That letter reached its destination in safety 
and, with its faint penciled words, is now one of my most 
treasured possessions. It was transmitted with one from 
Longstreet: 

Gettysburg, Penn., July 3d. 
My Dear Lady: General Pickett has just intrusted to me the safe 
conveyance of the inclosed letter. If it should turn out to be his fare- 
well the penciled note on the outside will show you that I could not 
speak the words which would send so gallant a soldier into the jaws of a 
useless death. As I watched him, gallant and fearless as any knight of 
old, riding to certain doom, I said a prayer for his safety and made a vow 
to the Holy Father that my friendship for him, poor as it is, should be 
your heritance. We shall meet. I am, dear lady, with great respect, 

Yours to command, 

James Longstreet. 



302 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Pickett gave orders to his brigade commanders and 
rode along down the line, his men springing to their feet 
with a shout of delight as he told them what was expected 
of them. 

He was sitting on his horse when Wilcox rode up. 
Taking a flask from his pocket, Wilcox said: 

" Pickett, take a drink with me. In an hour you'll be 
in hell or glory." 

Pickett declined to drink, saying: 

" I promised the little girl who is waiting and praying 
for me down in Virginia that I would keep fresh upon my 
lips until we should meet again the breath of the violets 
she gave me when we parted. Whatever my fate, Wilcox, 
I shall try to do my duty like a man, and I hope that, by 
that little girl's prayers, I shall to-day reach either glory 
or glory." 

At a quarter past three on that bright afternoon the 
order " Forward! " rang along the lines. The supreme mo- 
ment had come. As far as the eye could reach, up and 
down on each side, the gaze of thousands of men of both 
armies was riveted on a long line of soldiers moving with 
all the precision of a grand review. The five thousand 
Virginians had begun their march to death. 

Longstreet joined Alexander, and they stood together 
by the batteries when that magnificent column went by, 
the officers saluting as they passed. 

Pickett led, mounted on his spirited charger, gallant and 
graceful as a knight of chivalry riding to a tournament. 
His long dark, auburn-tinted hair floated backward in the 
wind like a soft veil as he went on down the slope of 
death. 

Then came Trimble, riding lightly as he might have 
ridden in the golden glow through the rose-scented air of 
some brilliant festal morning. 



GETTYSBURG— THIRD DAY. 303 

It was no holiday work to which they went as they 
gracefully saluted in passing their commanding general, 
who acknowledged it in silent sadness. ^^ Morituri, saluta- 
mus/" 

So they filed by, and went down into the heavy sea of 
smoke which hid them from view. As it lifted they were 
seen moving in solid ranks with steady step and with the 
harmonious rhythm of some grand symphony. The sun 
caught the gleam of their guns and flashed it back in 
myriads of sparkling rays. Behind them was a wall of 
light against which their dark forms were outlined in dis- 
tinct silhouette, 

Pickett's Virginians were less than five thousand, but 
every one was a soldier in the fullest sense of the word. As 
they pressed onward in majestic order over the plain, like 
a moving wall of granite, the battle-flag of the South waved 
over them, its stars shining as if in promise of victory. 

Garnett was on the right; Armistead center. Garnett 
had been ill for many days, traveling in the ambulance, but 
no persuasion could keep him from the post of danger. 
Too weak to mount his horse, he had insisted upon being 
placed in the saddle that he might lead his brigade in the 
charge. 

The battle-smoke drifted away over the hills and into 
the clouds, where it arched itself above the field as if it 
would even yet spread a protecting mantle around those 
devoted men. The long Federal array with its double 
line of supports was revealed to view. As the advancing 
column came in sight Meade's guns opened upon it, but it 
neither paused nor faltered. Round shot, bounding along, 
tore through its ranks and ricochetted around it. Shells 
exploded, darting flashes before — behind — overhead. 

A long line of skirmishers, prostrate on the grass, sud- 
denly arose within fifty yards, firing at them as they came 



304 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

within view, then running on ahead, turning and firing 
back as fast as they could reload. The column took no 
heed of them, but moved on at a quickstep, not return- 
ing their fire. 

Past the batteries and half-way over the field, amidst 
a terrific fire of shot and shell, Pickett gave the order, 
"Left oblique! " Coolly and beautifully the movement 
was made, changing the direction forty-five degrees from, 
the front to the left. 

From Cemetery Hill burst the fire of forty cannon 
against the right flank. Pickett's men fell like grain be- 
fore the sweep of the scythe. There was no pause. The 
survivors pressed on with a force which seemed to have 
grown stronger with the concentration of all the lives 
which had been freed from the fallen brave. 

Presently came the command, "Front forward!" and 
the column resumed its direction, straight down upon 
the center of the enemy's position — on, on it moved 
with iron nerve. 

One hundred Federal guns now concentrated their 
whole fury of shot and shell upon the advancing line. 
Every inch of air seemed to be filled with some death- 
dealing missile. The men and officers were fast being 
slaughtered. Kemper went down, mangled and bleeding, 
never again to lead his valiant Virginians in battle. 

Up and down the line of his brigade rode Garnett, 
calling out in his strong voice: 

" Faster, men, faster! Close up and step out, but don't 
double-quick! " 

A long blue line of infantry arose from behind the 
stone fence, and as the column advanced poured into it a 
heavy fire of musketry. At once a scattering fire was 
opened all along the line, when Garnett galloped up and 
called out: "Cease firing! * Save your strength and am- 



GETTYSBURG— THIRD DAY. 305 

munition ! " Under such perfect discipline were these vet- 
erans that without slackening their pace they reloaded their 
guns, shouldered arms, and went on at a quickstep. 

The artillery made an effort to support the assault, but 
the ammunition was almost exhausted. The light pieces 
which were to have guarded the infantry had been re- 
moved to some other part of the field, and none could be 
found to take their place. 

Pettigrew was trying to reach the post of death and 
honor, but he was far away, and valor could not quite 
annihilate space. His troops had suffered severely in the 
battle of the day before and their commander, Heth, had 
been wounded. They ^^ ere now led by an officer ardent 
and brave, but to them unknown. 

The four brigades of Archer, Pettigrew, Davis and Brock- 
enbrough deployed from right to left on a single line, a line 
of battle very difficult to maintain. The left lagged a little; 
the right, following the gallant Trimble, made heroic efforts 
to join Pickett whose oblique movement had brought him 
nearer. Scales and Lane followed Pettigrew. 

Dauntlessly Pickett's men pressed forward, the grand- 
est column of heroes that ever made a battle-field glorious. 
They reached the post-and-rail fence, upon the other side 
of which, and parallel to it, an ordinary dirt road ran 
straight through the field across which they were advanc- 
ing. The fence was but a momentary obstruction. It was 
but the work of a few seconds to climb over it and into 
the road, while a hundred blazing cannon poured death- 
dealing missiles into their devoted ranks. Now and here 
was given to the world the grandest exhibition of disci- 
pline and endurance, of coolness and courage under a with- 
ering fire, ever recorded in military history; a scene 
which has made the story of Pickett's charge the glory of 
American arms. There in the road, with the deafening 

20 



30O PICKETT AND HIS MEiY. 

explosion of unnumbered shells filling the air, their ranks 
plowed through and through again and again by the 
fiery hail which the batteries from the heights beyond 
were pouring into them, amid all this terrific roar and the 
not less disconcerting cries of the wounded and dying, 
they heard the command of their company officers: 
"Halt, men! Form line! Fall in! Right dress!" 

Imagine, if you can, these heroes relorming and align- 
ing their ranks while their comrades dropped in death- 
agony about them, the shells bursting above their heads, 
and an iron storm beating them to the earth. Yet the 
line was formed, and coolly they awaited the command, 
"Forward!" At last it came: "Forward! Quick march!" 
With perfect precision, with all the grace and accuracy of 
the parade-ground instead of the bloodiest of battle-fields, 
Pickett's division took up its death-march, each man with 
"the red badge of courage" pinned over his heart. The 
like was never seen before, and the change in military 
tactics will prevent its ever being seen again. 

Friend and foe looked on in wondering awe. A thrill 
of admiration held the waiting enemy silent and motion- 
less as they watched this grand and unsurpassable display 
of Virginia's valor. 

As they advanced toward Cemetery Hill there was 
seen in the open field to the right a long, dark line of men, 
half a mile distant and at right angles with their line. 
They were coming at double-quick upon that unprotected 
right flank, their muskets at right shoulder shift, their 
banners fluttering in the breeze, their burnished bayonets 
glistening in the sun. The enemy were strengthening 
their position, hurrying up reserves from right to left and 
from opposite directions doubling along the Confederate 
front. 

A heavy rain of shell and shrapnel poured down from 



GETTYSBURG— THIRD DAY. 307 

the height. In the fiery storm the thin ranks became yet 
thinner. Not an instant's disorder prevailed, but under 
the withering fire they marched steadily forward. 

"Faster, men, faster! We are almost there!" cried 
Garnett's clarion voice above the roar of battle. Then he 
went down among the dead, with the faith of a little child 
in his hero heart. 

There was a mufifled tread of armed men from behind, 
then a rush of trampling feet, and Armistead's brigade 
from the rear closed up behind the front line. Their gal- 
lant leader, with his hat on the point of his sword, took 
Garnett's place. The division was now four ranks deep. 
As often as the iron storm made gaps through it the cheer 
would come from private, corporal, sergeant, lieutenant 
and captain alike: "Close up! Close up!" and "For- 
ward!" The lines shortened, but never wavered, never 
halted. Closer and closer they drew to the foe till there 
remained only a bleeding remnant. 

Now they broke forward into a double-quick, while 
canister and grape whirred and whizzed through the air. 
On, on, they rushed toward the stone wall where the Fed- 
eral batteries were pouring forth their deadly missiles. A 
hundred yards away a flanking force came down on a run, 
halted suddenly, and fired into the line a deadly storm of 
musketry. Under this cross-fire they reeled and staggered 
between falling comrades and the right came pressing 
down upon the center, making the line at this point twenty 
to thirty deep. A few, unable to resist temptation, with- 
out orders, faced the enemy on their right, though the 
latter were sixty to one. The fighting was terrific. Mus- 
kets seemed to cross. Men fired to the right and to the 
front. The fighting was hand-to-hand. The firing was 
into the enemy's faces. 

The Federals in front fell behind their g-uns to let them 



308 PICKETT AND HIS MLN. 

belch their grape and canister into the oncoming ranks, 
piling up the dead and wounded almost in touch of them. 
When within a few feet of the stone wall the artillery de- 
livered their last fire from the guns shotted to the muzzle. 

The division was now in the shape of an inverted V 
with the point flattened. On it swept over the ground 
covered with the dead and dying. 

Armistead, sword in hand, sprang over the stone wall, 
crying: 

"Come on, boys, come on! We'll give them the cold 
steel! Come on! Who will follow me? Who will fol- 
low me?" 

He reached the battery, his hand touched one of Cush- 
'•^g's guns. Then he and Cushing fell together, and a 
crimson river washed the base of the copse of trees 
which marked the high tide of the Confederacy — a river 
formed of the noblest blood that ever flowed in Ameri- 
can veins. 

Victory was within their grasp. Alas, where were the 
promised supports? Worn and exhausted by the tension 
of the bloody fighting of the day before, in which they 
had suffered terribly, their leaders dead or wounded, they 
had crumbled away under the deadly hail of the artillery 
fire. 

Back from the flaming crest fell only a remnant 
of the division which had performed such deeds of 
valor as made the whole world wonder. The flags which 
floated a moment ago over Cemetery Hill, lay on the 
ground among the prostrate forms of the men who had 
so bravely borne them to the very verge o£ victory. 

Of the five thousand who had followed where the flash 
of Pickett's sword lit the way to glorious victory, or not 
less glorious defeat, three thousand five hundred had gone 
down to the soldier's triumphant death, to live forever in 



GETTYSBURG— THIRD DAY. 3O9 

our hearts and on the fame-crowned pages of their coun- 
try's history. 

Virginia is rich in the names of great warriors, states- 
men and leaders of men, but the charge of this Virginia 
division furnishes the most conspicuous proof in the his- 
tory of the State that the rank and file of its citizen 
soldiery are the peers of any troops on earth, and the 
memory of this band of martyrs will be cherished in the 
hearts of her people forever and forever. With such fol- 
lowers Virginia will never be without great leaders. It 
was fitting that in the descendants of the great sons of 
Virginia, who had led in all that had contributed to Ameri- 
can grandeur, this consummation of chivalrous manhood 
should be attained. 

The battle-flag of the Confederacy had waved for a 
moment in triumph to droop forever around its staff. To 
the South was left the bitter sense of loss, the heartbreak 
of defeat. 

She had left, too, a memory which is enshrined forever 
in the proudest and grandest niche of her temple of fame, 
a glorified page of history to thrill the heart of the world 
while time lingers. 

It is the page on which is inscribed the grandest charge 
known in all the long and proud record of martial history; 
a charge which will live in song and story while the heart 
of man can throb responsive to immortal deeds; a charge 
which can never be obliterated from the roll of fame be- 
cause, in the changed conditions of warfare, it can never 
be repeated or equaled; that transcendent charge which 
awakened echoes to roll through the halls of time and to 
incite to actions of supernal glory heroes of coming ages 
— Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

WHERE WERE THE GUNS? 

Where were the guns when Pickett's men started on 
their grim march to death? is a query which has been 
often made, and to which Colonel E. P. Alexander is, 
perhaps, best fitted to give answer. On this point he says: 

Before daylight on the morning of the third I received orders to post 
the artillery for an assault upon the enemy's position, and later I learned 
that it was led by Pickett's division and directed on Cemetery Hill. Some 
of the batteries had gone back for ammunition and forage, but they were 
all brought up immediately and by daylight all then on the field were 
posted. The morning was consumed in waiting for Pickett's division, 
and possibly other movements of infantry. 

While forming for the attack I borrowed from General Pendleton, 
General Lee's chief of artillery, seven twelve-pound howitzers belong- 
ing to the other corps under Major Richardson, which I put in reserve in 
a selected spot, intending them to accompany Pickett's infantry in the 
charge, to have the advantage of their horses and men and full chests of 
ammunition for the critical moment in case the batteries engaged in the 
preliminary cannonade should be so cut up and exhausted as to be slow 
in getting up. 

For more than half an hour Hill's artillery had a fight for a turn in 
between the lines; sixty-three guns. Not one of the seventy-five guns 
which I then had in line was allowed to fire a shot, as we had at best a 
short supply of ammunition for the work laid out. One hundred and 
thirty to one hundred and fifty rounds are usually carried with each piece, 
about enough for one hour and a half of rapid firing. Am very sure we 
did not carry more than one hundred rounds to a gun, and think not over 
sixty rounds. 

About twelve Longstreet told me that when Pickett was ready he 
would himself give the signal for all our guns to open. He desired me 
to select a suitable place for reservation, and take with me one of Pick- 
ett's staff and exercise my judgment in selecting the moment for Pickett's 

310 



WHERE WERE THE GUNSi' 31I 

advance. I selected the salient angle of the wood in \\'hich Pickett's 
line was now formed just on the left flank of my seventy-five guns. Re- 
ceived note from Longstreet: 

"Headquarters, July 3, 1863. 
"Colonel: If the artillery fire does not have the effect to drive off 
the enemy or gradually demoralize him so as to make our efforts pretty 
certain, I would prefer that you should not advise General Pickett to 
make the charge. I shall rely a great deal on your good judgment to de- 
termine the matter, and shall expect you to let General Pickett know 
when the moment offers. Respectfully, 

"J. Longstreet, Lieutenant-General. 
"To Colonel E. P. Alexander, 

"Artillery." 

"General: I will only be able to judge of the effect of our fire on 
the enemy by his return fire, for his infantry is too little exposed to view, 
and the smoke will obscure the whole field. If, as I infer from your 
note, there is any alternative to this attack, it should be carefully con- 
sidered before opening our fire, for it will take all the artillery ammuni- 
tion we have left to test this one thoroughly, and if the result is unfavor- 
able we will have none left for another effort. And if this is entirely 
successful, it can only be so at a very bloody cost. ' ' 

To this received following reply, which is still in my possession: 

"Colonel: The intention is to advance the infantry if the artillery 
has the desired effect of driving the enemy off, or has other effect such 
as to warrant us in making the attack. When that moment arrives ad- 
vise General Pickett, but of course advance such artillery as you can use 
in aiding the attack." 

I felt the responsibility very deeply, for the day was rapidly advanc- 
ing (about twelve or a little later), and whatever was to be done was to 
be done soon. Meanwhile I had been anxiously discussing the attack 
with General A. B. "Wright, who said that the difficulty was not so much 
in reaching Cemetery Plill or taking it — -his brigade had carried it the 
afternoon before — but that the trouble was to hold it, for the whole Fed- 
eral army was mustered in a sort of horseshoe shape and could rapidly 
reinforce the point to any extent, while our long enveloping line could 
not give prompt enough support. This somewhat reassured me, as I 
had heard it said that morning that General Lee had ordered "every 
brigade in the army to charge Cemetery Hill," and it was at least cer- 



312 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

tain that the question of supports had had his careful attention. Before 
answering I rode back to converse with General Pickett, whose line was 
now formed or forming in the wood and, without telling him of the ques- 
tion I had to decide, I found out that he was entirely sanguine of suc- 
cess in the charge and was only congratulating himself on the op- ~ 
portunity. I was convinced that to make any half-way effort would 
ensure a failure of the campaign, and that if our artillery fire was once 
opened after all the time consumed in preparation for the attack the only 
hope of success was to follow it up promptly with one extreme effort, 
concentrating every energy we possessed into it, and my mind was fully 
made up that if the artillery opened Pickett must charge. Wrote to 
Longstreet: 

"General: When our artillery fire is doing its best I shall advise 
General Pickett to advance." 

It was my intention, as he had a long distance to traverse, that he 
should start not later than fifteen minutes after our fire opened. I sent 
for Richardson with his seven twelve-pounders to come up through the 
woods and be ready to move ahead of Pickett's division in the advance. 
To my great disappointment I learned just as we opened fire, and too 
late to replace him, that General Pendleton had sent four of his guns 
without my knowledge to some other part of the field, and the other 
three had also moved off and could not be found. Probably, however, 
the presence of guns at the head of this column would only have resulted 
in their loss, but it would have been a brilliant opportunity for them, and 
I always felt like apologizing for their absence. 

There have been many efforts to shift responsibility 
and to assign various causes to this repulse of the Army 
of Northern Virginia, but I can not find it in my heart, 
nor do I think it reasonable, to believe that any man or 
ofincer of that grand army, led by the peerless Lee, did 
aught but what the most profound sense of duty and pa- 
triotism, controlled by the emergencies which surrounded 
him, suggested that he should do. 

General Imboden, describing an interview with Lee 
after the battle, states that in a voice tremulous with 
emotion, Lee said: 

"General, I never saw troops behave more magnifi- 



WHERE WERE THE GUNS? 313 

cently than Pickett's division of Virginians did to-day in 
their grand charge upon the enemy. And if they had 
been supported, as they were to have been — but for some 
reason, not yet fully explained to me, they were not — we 
would have held the position they so gloriously won at 
such a fearful loss of noble lives, and the day would have 
been ours." 

After a moment he added in a tone almost of agony: 

" Too bad ! Too bad !! Too bad !!! " 

A report of the closing scene of the great battle was 
made by him who was best able to give the true story of 
Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. It was prepared from 
notes penciled on the backs of old letters, on scraps of 
vrapping-paper, on any fragment large enough to hold a 
sentence. They were jotted down amid the dead faces 
bordering the line of retreat, the groans of the wounded 
and dying, all the fearful sights and sounds of that death- 
march. They are the memories of a man only a few days 
away from the most appalling crisis of his life. 

This report was suppressed at the request of the com- 
mander-in-chief. Weighed down by the responsibility of 
a great army, Lee shrank from adding to the difficulties 
of the position by any dissension which might be excited 
by a bare statement of facts. In a kind and appreciative 
letter, which has become a part of the published records 
of the war, admitting the truth of the report, he asked 
that it might be withdrawn, adding, after setting forth the 
reasons for his request, the significant words, "We have 
the enemy to fight." 

It was in a spirit of true patriotism that the leader of 
the Army of Northern Virginia made this request. Those 
who knew him will remember that of all his many noble 
utterances none was more impressive than this: "Duty 
is the grandest word in human language." His duty was 



/ 
/ 



314 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

to the cause for which he fought, and in the performance 
of that duty he asked that this thing might be done. His 
wishes were respected then, and through all the years that 
have passed since that time they have not been forgotten. 
The most alluring temptations have not brought that re- 
port from the oblivion to which it was consigned in the 
far-away past. 

The hand which penned those blood-stained notes, 
reaching from the grave, is as powerful as when it un- 
sheathed the sword upon the field of battle, and it draws 
across them still the mark of silence. They are all our 
own — they who went down in the battle-fire, they who 
left the field with heavy hearts and reluctant steps, long- 
ing to stay behind with their comrades who had passed 
beyond the conflict, our tried and true, our best-beloved. 
May the soft veil of mercy and love enfold them forever! 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

DETAILED FOR SPECIAL DUTY. 

The temperature of the summer of 1863 seemed to 
keep pace with the high tide of war. The heat was so 
excessive that the schools were closed early. 

The first week in June I was graduated from my alma 
mater. I stopped in Richmond for a few days en route 
to my home within the Federal lines. The day after I 
arrived I received a letter dated at Culpeper Court-house, 
June 13, full of faith in a successful campaign, a short 
separation, and a "speedy termination of the difificulties." 
June 15 and 18 there came other letters, one written on the 
march to Winchester, the other after reaching that place, 
breathing the same spirit of confidence and hope. Until 
the fatal third of July such letters came to me, expressing 
hope and trust — always hope and trust. 

Then drifted to us rumors, faint and indefinite at first, 
of a great battle fought at Gettysburg. Gradually they 
grew stronger and brighter, and the mind of the South 
became imbued with the impression that a grand victory 
had been won. Thus the news first came to us, trans- 
muted in the balmy air of the South from the appalling 
disaster it really was into the glorious triumph which our 
longing hearts hoped it might be. A few days of this 
glowing dream, and then — the heartbreaking truth. 

I could hear nothing of the General except the vague 
rumor that he had been killed in the final charge. Our 
mail facilities were very meager, and our letters were 
smuggled through the lines by any trustworthy person 

315 



3l6 . PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

who, having been given the privilege of going back and 
forth, happened to be at hand at the time. Many a mile 
I had ridden on mule-back, hoping to hear directly from 
the General, before I was rewarded. 

" Reck," our old mule, had been a benefaction not 
only to us but to the whole county. Every other mule 
and every horse had been confiscated and taken by the 
Federals. But for his wonderful memory, " Reck" would 
have changed owners, too, like all his half-brothers and 
-sisters, for he was a fine-looking mule. When a colt 
his leg had been broken in crossing a bridge, and all 
the powers of coaxing and whipping and spurring after 
that accident could not make him step on a plank, 
much less cross a bridge, unless you pretended to 
mend the bridge, and first walked across it yourself in 
safety, and then came back and led him over. My last 
ride on "Reck" brought me as compensation a package 
of five or six letters. The first was the letter which the 
General, as he went into battle, had handed to General 
Longstreet, with its sad superscription — "If Old'Peter's 

nod means death ." The next was written on the 

second day after the great catastrophe. 

Later there came to me the following: 

WiLLIAMSPORT, July 8, 1863. 

I am crossing the river to-day, guarding some four thousand prison- 
ers back to Winchester, where I shall take command and try to recruit 
my spirit-crushed, wearied, cut-up people. It is just two months this 
morning since I parted from you, and yet the disappointments and 
sorrows that have been crowded into the interval make the time seem 
years instead. My grand old division, which was so full of faith and 
courage then, is now almost extinguished. But one field-officer in the 
whole command escaped in that terrible third of July slaughter, and 
alas ! alas ! for the men who fearlessly followed their lead on to certain 
death. 



DE TAILED FOR SPECIAL D UTY. 3 1 7 

We were ordered to take a height. We took it, but under the most 
withering fire that I, even in my dreams, could ever have conceived of, 
and I have seen many battles. Alas ! alas ! no support came, and my 
poor fellows who had gotten in were overpowered. Your uncle. Colo- 
nel Phillips, behaved most gallantly — was wounded, but not seriously. 
Your cousins. Captain Cralle and C. C. Phillips, are among the missing. 
But for you, I should greatly have preferred to answer reveille on the 
fourth of July with the poor fellows over there, and how I escaped it is 
a miracle; how any of us survived is marvelous, unless it was by prayer. ' 

My heart is very, very sad, and it seems almost sacrilegious to think 
of happiness at such a time, but let my need of your sweet womanly 
sympathy and comfort in these sad hours plead extenuation, and be pre- 
pared, I beseech you, at a moment's notice to obey the summons that 
will make you my wife. 

Two weeks later I received this letter: 

CuLPEPER C. H., July 23, 1863. 

The short but terrible campaign is over, and we are again on this 
side of the Blue Ridge. Would that we had never crossed the Potomac, 
or that the splendid army which we had on our arrival in Pennsylvania 
had not been fought in detail. If the charge made by my gallant Vir- 
ginians on the fatal third of July had been supported, or even if my other 
two brigades, Jenkins and Corse, had been with me, we would now, I 
believe, have been in Washington, and the war practically over. God 
in his wisdom has willed otherwise, and I fear there will be many more 
blood-drenched fields and broken hearts before the end does come. 

I wrote to you on Wednesday by Colonel Harrison, who went to Rich- 
mond via Luray. I came on with my division, occupying both gaps of Front 
Royal, Manassas and Chester, where we had a brilliant skirmish with 
the enemy. For three days and nights I have been almost constantly in 
the saddle. Last night, the zzd, I had a tent pitched, and sat down to a 
meal at a camp-table, the first time since leaving Bunker Hill. We had 
been going ' ' al fresco. ' ' When we did sleep it was with the heavens 
for a canopy and a fence-rail for a pillow. We shall be here three or 
four days, perhaps longer. 

I thank the great and good God that he has spared me to come back 
and claim your promise, and I pray your womanly assistance in helping 
me to its immediate fulfilment. This is no time for ceremonies. 
The future is all uncertain, and it is impossible for me to call a moment 
my own. Again, with all the graves I have left behind me, and with all 



3l8 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

the wretchedness and misery this fated campaign has made, we would 
not wish anything but a very silent, very quiet wedding, planning only 
the sacrament and blessing of the church, and, after that, back to my 
division and to the blessing of those few of them who, by God's miracle, 
were left. 

I gave Colonel Harrison a gold luck-piece which was a parting gift to 
me from the officers of the Pacific, and told him to have it made into a 
wedding-ring at Tyler's. I asked him to have engraved within "G. E. P. 

and S. C. Married , " and to leave sufficient space for date and 

motto, which you would direct. 

Perhaps no girl just out of school ever had a more diffi- 
cult problem sprung upon her than that which confronted 
me. Had we been living under the old regime nothing 
would have been easier than to prepare for a grand wed- 
ding in the stately old Southern style. Times had 
changed very greatly in the past few years, and how was 
a trousseau to be made away up in the frozen North, 
where all the pretty things seemed to have gone, and 
spirited through the lines to make a wedding brilliant 
enough to satisfy the girlish idea of propriety? And yet, 
how could a marriage take place without the accompani- 
ments of white satin, misty laces, dainty slippers, and 
gloves, and all the other paraphernalia traditionally con- 
nected with that interesting event in a young woman's 
life? However, if "Love laughs at locksmiths," he has 
more serious methods of treating other obstacles in his 
way, and all the difficulties of millinery were finally over- 
come. But still there were lions in the path. 

Longstreet lay under a tree at Culpeper Court-house, 
seeking repose from the burdens which would necessarily 
weigh upon the mind of a man in whose care was the des- 
tiny of the leading corps of the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia. As he leisurely reclined Pickett came up and sat 
on the grass beside him. 

"General," he said, " I am going to be married, and 



DETAILED FOR SPECIAL DUTY. 319 

want a furlough. This little girl " — handing my picture to 
General Longstreet — "says she is ready and willing to 
marry me at any minute, in spite of the risks of war, and 
will go with me to the furthest end of the earth, if need be." 

The younger man had consulted the older about many 
things since the day when he had rushed forward into the 
place made vacant by the wounding of his superior offi- 
cer and carried the flag to victory, but he had never be- 
fore confided to him an aspiration of so soulful and sacred 
a character. Longstreet considered the matter gravely 
for a time. 

" I can't give it to you, Pickett. They are not grant- 
ing any furloughs now. I might detail you for special 
duty, and of course you could stop off by the way and be 
married," said General Longstreet, with a twinkle in his 
eye. 

It was not a time for insisting upon minor details, even 
in regard to very momentous subjects, and the General 
eagerly consented to be detailed for " special duty." Then 
there arose the problem of how to get the two necessary 
parties to the transaction within the essential proximity 
to each other. If the General attempted to cross the lines 
he might be arrested, and then not only would the wed- 
ding be indefinitely postponed, but one of the divisions 
of Longstreet's corps would lose its leader. 

The General had purposed coming to meet me at the 
Blackwater River, which was the dividing line between 
the Federal and Confederate forces, but fortunately, 
through military exigencies, his plans were changed. As 
cautious as we had tried to be, the Federals, by some un- 
known power, caught a glimmering of what was expected, 
and some poor fellow en route to the Blackwater, as inno- 
cent of being the General as of committing matrimony, 
was ambushed and captured by a squad of cavalry sent 



320 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

out from Suffolk for the purpose, and, though he pleaded 
innocent to the charges against him, put into Suffolk jail, 
before he was recognized and released. 

Thus, in the interests of the Confederacy, as well as of 
the marriage, it became necessary that I should be the one 
to cross the lines. 

My uncle was a physician and because of his profes- 
sion was permitted to go where he wished, and I had 
often accompanied him on his professional visits. 

On the 14th of September, my father and I set out to 
cross the lines under the protecting wing of this good 
uncle. Just before we were ferried over the Blackwater 
River, we came upon the Federal cavalry, who looked at us 
somewhat critically but, recognizing Dr. Phillips, evidently 
assumed that he was bent upon a mission of mercy — as, 
indeed, was he not? — and did not molest us. 

We reached the railway-station in safety. " Waverley," 
it was called, and the romantic associations clustering 
around the name iilled my youthful fancy with pleasure. 
There we were met by my uncle, Colonel J. J. Phillips, 
and his wife, and by the General's brother and his aunt 
and uncle. Miss Olivia and Mr. Andrew Johnston. Colo- 
nel Phillips was a warm personal friend of the General 
and commanded a regiment in his division. He had 
been wounded at Gettysburg and was just convalescing. 

They accompanied us to Petersburg where, to my great 
delight, the General awaited me at the station. When we 
reached the hotel he and my father went out for the pur- 
pose of procuring the license. They soon returned with 
the sorrowful announcement that, owing to some legal 
technicality, the license could not be issued without a 
special decree of court, I not being a resident of that 
jurisdiction. Court could not be convened until the nexV 
day, and the General must report at headquarters that 



DETAILED FOR SPECIAL DUTY. 32I 

evening. He went away sorrowful, and I fell into a flood 
of tears, thereby greatly shocking the prim, rigid maiden 
lady — a friend of my mother — who had accompanied me 
as monitor and bridesmaid, and who was intensely horri- 
fied by the expression of my impatience and the general 
impropriety of my conduct in fretting over the delay. 

As I sat in my room, drowned in grief, I heard the 
newsboys crying the evening papers: 

"All about the marriage of General Pickett, the hero 
of Gettysburg, to the beautiful Miss Corbell, of Virginia! " 

You know, a girl is always "beautiful" on her wed- 
ding-day, whatever she may have been the day before, or 
will be the day after. 

However, it was not my wedding-day, but only was 
to have been, and I had serious doubts as to whether 
my tear -washed eyes and disappointed, grief- stained 
face would be likely to answer anybody's preconceived 
convictions of the highest type of beauty. Again was 
my mother's "prunes and prisms" friend unnecessarily 
shocked, as I thought, because I had simply opened the 
window to buy a paper containing the account of my own 
marriage. 

The next day the General returned to Petersburg, and 
the court graciously convened. The license was granted, 
and we were married by the Rev. Dr. Piatt in dear old St. 
Paul's Church before congregated thousands, for soldier 
and civilian, rich and poor, high and low, were all made 
welcome by my hero. We left for Richmond on the 
afternoon train amidst the salute of guns, hearty cheers, 
and chimes and bands and bugles. 

It may not be supposed that, in those dark days of the 

Confederacy, we were likely to find a sumptuous banquet 

awaiting us in the capital, but we did. The river and the 

woods had given of their varied treasures to do honor to 

21 



322 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

my General. It was in the sora season, and so plentifully 
was that game supplied that the banquet was afterward 
known as "the wedding-sora-supper." Had it required 
the expenditure of ammunition to provide this delicacy, 
it would probably have been lacking, for the South at that 
time could not afford to shoot at birds when there were 
so many more important targets to be found. They were 
killed at night with paddles, and many hundreds were 
sent as bridal presents by the plantation servants from 
Turkey Island. There were thousands of delicious beaten 
biscuit and gallons of terrapin stew made, and turkeys 
boned and made into salads, too, by the faithful old planta- 
tion servants under the supervision of Mrs. Simms, the 
loyal old overseer's wife. Not having sugar, we had 
few sweets, but Mrs. Robert E. Lee had made for us with 
her own fair hands a beautiful fruit-cake, the General's 
aunt-in-law, Mrs. Maria Dudley, the mother of the pres- 
ent Bishop, sent us as a bridal gift a black-cake that 
had been made and packed away for her own golden wed- 
ding, and some of our other friends had remembered us 
in similar ways. So we even had sweets at our wedding- 
supper. 

It was a brilliant reception. The Army of Northern 
Virginia, then stationed around Richmond, came in uni- 
form. Of the thousands present, only President Davis 
and his Cabinet, a few ministers, and a few very old men 
were in civilian clothes. The General and I greeted and 
welcomed them all as they came; then they passed on to 
the banquet and the dance — dancing as only Richmond 
in the Confederacy could dance. With a step that never 
faltered she waltzed airily over the crater of a volcano. 
She threaded graceful mazes on the brink of the precipice. 
The rumbling of the coming earthquake struck no minor 
tones into her merry music. If people could not dance 



DETAILED FOR SPECIAL DUTY. 323 

in the crises of life the tragedy of existence might be 
even darker than it is. 

So they danced through the beautiful, bright Septem- 
ber night, and when the last guests were going my Gen- 
eral and I walked out upon the veranda with them and, 
as they closed the outer gates, watched the stars of night 
fade away before the coming dawn and the morning star 
rise and shine gloriously upon a new, happy day. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

TWICE TEARS TO SMILES. 

After the battle of Gettysburg Longstreet placed be- 
fore the Secretary of War a proposition to take his corps 
to Tennessee to reinforce Bragg. It was the intention 
that Pickett should accompany this expedition, a plan 
which drew from the corps commander the following 
words of commiseration and encouragement: 

I am sorry for you, old fellow, but you must cheer up and "keep a 
stiff upper lip. " I will bring you back to dear old Virginia, and deliver 
you safely to your lady-love with additional laurels and covered with 
noble deeds. 



Most sincerely yours, 

J. Longstreet. 

Longstreet's proposed plan was clouded by the changed 
orders which assigned Pickett to the Department of North 
Carolina, with headquarters at Petersburg, Virginia. His 
command comprised all that portion of Virginia and North 
Carolina lying between the James River on the north and 
Cape Fear River on the south, extending on the east to 
the Federal lines around Suffolk and to the Blackwater 
and Chowan, and included all the troops in that region. 

Pickett having been relieved of the far-away duty to 
which he had previously been assigned, the leader of the 
expedition thus extended his congratulations and regrets 
commingled: 

324 



TWICE TEARS TO SMILES. 3^5 

I am glad of the change of orders for yourself, old fellow, and con- 
gratulate you, but sorry enough for myself and the Cause that I am not 
to have you with me. You know I don't like this "one-boot business." 
anyhow, and I always feel certain and sure of Pickett and Pickett's men. - 

Give my most respectful regards to your lady-love and tell her I 
should have brought you back to her covered with additional glory and 
noble deeds. I am sorry not to be at your marriage, but I shall remem- 
ber the day and say a prayer, and ask you to kiss the sweet bride's hand 
for her husband's oldest friend and her well-wisher. 

Most sincerely yours, 

James Longstreet. 

By order of the War Department, Pickett's division, 
"all that were left of them" after that fatal charge at 
Gettysburg two months before, had just been divided up 
for the purpose of recruiting its strength. Although 
separated, it still retained its organization, and was again 
consolidated in May, 1864, on the North Anna River, 
when it rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia. 

The Department of North Carolina was extended and 
important, and as early as the 2d of November Pickett re- 
ported in person to our Secretary of War how ineffec- 
tually it was protected on the tide-water and approaches 
toward Petersburg. Soon after this interview Pickett 
learned of the intended Federal expedition against Peters- 
burg by way of the James. Conveying this information 
to Richmond, he asked for sufficient troops to meet such 
an attack, earnestly setting forth the immediate necessity 
of fortifying and obstructing the lower James. 

Later on, Pickett went to Richmond and, with Elzey, 
commander of the defenses at Richmond, had an inter- 
view with the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the 
Navy, representing the unprotected condition of his lines, 
of which the Federals would certainly take advantage. 

At the close of this interview Pickett was given the 
solemn promise that he should receive whatever rein- 



326 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

forcements of troops could possibly be spared, that a 
gunboat should be stationed on the James River at Fort 
Powhatan on the south bank of the river, and that below 
that point the river should at once be further obstructed 
with torpedoes. These promises, for causes unknown, 
were not fulfilled, and subsequent events showed their 
importance. 

When we returned to Petersburg after our bridal visit 
with the General's sister and aunts, we found that loving, 
thoughtful hands had been unsparing in their tasteful ar- 
rangement of our temporary abode. Affection had found 
a way, in spite of the check of war, to anticipate every 
luxurious requirement. Choicest selections were made 
by the General's friends from among their own treasures 
to adorn our rooms. 

It was here that the first tears of my married life were 
shed. It happened some months after we had entered 
our Petersburg home, upon a gloomy, rainy morning 
when the General was busy at his office and there was 
nothing to prevent my falling into the temptations which 
wait upon idle hands. 

Did you ever see or hear of a girl graduate who had 
never read a novel? Incredible as it may seem, such was 
I at this period of my life. From infancy I had been 
under the especial guidance of my good grandmother, a 
rigid churchwoman, who had unshakable convictions as 
to the influences which should surround a young girl. 
She did not approve of novels. Consequently I had never 
been subjected to the charm of their seductive pages. 

Having grasped a situation so remote from the proba- 
ble, just imagine such an innocent, crude mind suddenly 
brought into contact with the tense tragedy of " East 
Lynne" — a tragedy which probably has never been ex- 
ceeded in literary history. So it happened to me. 



TWICE TEARS TO SMILES. 327 

Some one, more hardened to fictive woes than I, had 
been reading it and left it where it fell into my hands. 
When I began, I was not thinking much of the story. I 
was too greatly appalled by the enormity of my crime in 
reading a novel of any kind to have a clear idea of what 
it was about. I was remorsefully thinking, "What would 
my good grandmother think? What would she say?" 

As I read on I began to lose sight and memory of my 
grandmother. Her influence ceased to move me. The 
story exerted a miserable fascination for which there is 
no name. All the woe and heartbreak of it fastened 
itself upon me and became my own. The tragedy of a shat- 
tered life filled me with a grief unspeakable. I read until 
my eyes were blinded with tears. Then I let the book fall 
upon the floor and gave way to a passion of sobs. 

I heard the General coming and hid the book, but I 
could not conceal the traces of my woe. He was filled 
with anxiety when he saw my tear-stained face. 

"What is the matter, little one?" he asked with tender 
solicitude. 

" Nothing," I sobbed, brokenly. 

"Are you ill?" 

" No-0-0, sir," with renewed floods of tears. 

" Have you hurt yourself?" 

He looked anxiously around in search of some weapon 
with which I might have accidentally inflicted upon my- 
self an injury. 

No, I had not hurt myself. 

" Has any one wounded your feelings, or offended you 
in any way?" 

No, everybody had been kind and good to me. 

" Poor little thing. She is tired and lonely. Will you 
come and ride with me?" 

No, I would not ride. 



328 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

It was the first time I had ever declined to ride 
with the General or, in fact, had refused to assent to any- 
thing which he had suggested, and he was deeply hurt. 
In vain he implored an explanation. I was unable to 
divulge my grief, and he was forced to leave me in tears, 
and go forth with his great, honest soul clouded with 
perplexity. 

When he was gone I returned to "East Lynne" and 
irrepressible misery. When the General came back some 
time later I was yet more deeply drowned in seas of woe, 
and his anxiety was correspondingly increased. 

"Are you homesick?" he asked tenderly. "You shall 
go home to-morrow and stay as long as you like." 

" I am not homesick." 

"Do you want to see your father and mother? They 
shall be sent for at once." 

I did not want to see my father and mother. 

"Do you want your little sisters? They shall come 
and stay with you as long as you want them." 

I did not want my little sisters. 

Again was he forced to leave me, the dark mystery 
still unsolved. Again did I resort to "East Lynne" and 
uninterrupted woe. 

When evening came the situation was yet worse. I 
was hopelessly submerged in unillumined, measureless 
tides of despair. I threw myself upon a couch and oceans 
of wretchedness rolled over me and I wept floods of burn- 
ing tears. 

The General was lost in mystification. A sudden fear 
possessed him. 

The "rift within the lute" had developed. So great 
was the darkness which the imaginary life of the fictitious 
heroine cast over me that I did not at first realize the 
cloud on our domestic horizon. It suddenly gloomed 



TWICE TEARS TO SMILES. 329 

over me, bringing contrition and remorse. Yet how could 
I explain and risk the contempt which I felt my deception 
warranted. I watched the General as he paced up and 
down the floor, vainly endeavoring to analyze the problem 
with which he had been so unexpectedly confronted. 
Sympathy, doubt, grief, amazement seemed to commingle 
in his mind. After a time he came and stood beside me, 
looking at me with such an expression of sadness that, 
under the influence of that gaze, there was nothing left me 
but to acknowledge the cause of my hitherto unuttered 
woe. Blushing and confused, I sobbed out my mournful 
story and took the poor paper-back book, the cause of our 
first and only misunderstanding, from its hiding-place 
beneath the cushion and sheepishly handed it to him, and 
all the clouds drifted away in smiles. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

NEWBERN. 

Newbern, North Carolina, was held by the Federals, and 
was reported to General Pickett as being weak in its de- 
fenses and protected by a small force. It was a place of 
storage, and its alleged stock of provisions and clothing 
was a most tempting bait for our nearly naked, barefooted, 
famished soldiers. 

" Newbern " is the modern form of New Berne, so 
named in the latter part of the seventeenth century by its 
founder, Christopher, Baron de Graffenried, in memory of 
his former home, Berne, Switzerland. 

In its early infancy Newbern had been baptized in 
blood, and its sinister beginning seemed to have ushered 
it into a career of turbulence, occasioned more by its 
location than by any consequence attaching to it from 
size or other characteristic adapted to attract attention. 
Its position as an important seaport of the Confederacy 
early rendered it an object of desire to the enemy. 

It is near the corjfluence of the Neuse and the Trent, 
and the only two roads by which it may be reached by 
land lie through an almost impassable swamp. There was 
once a railroad from Newbern to Kinston and Goldsboro, 
passing through the marshy ground, but it had been de- 
stroyed. 

On March 14, 1862, Burnside advanced upon Newbern, 
destroying a fortification of little value in the vicinity, 
and capturing and partially burning the town, being sup- 
ported by gunboats which cleared the way by a heavy 

330 



NEWBERN. 331 

rain of shells. Burnside captured forty-six guns, three 
light batteries, and a large amount of stores. In the be- 
ginning of 1864, Newbern was held by the Federal gen- 
eral Foster, with a small force. 

Pickett laid a plan for an attack upon Newbern which 
was approved of and applauded by both Lee and Beaure- 
gard, and was guarded with strictest secrecy. 

On the 1st day of February, 1864, Hoke's and Cling- 
man's North Carolina brigades and a part of Corse's Vir- 
ginia brigade, with a battalion of Reid's artillery (the 
Thirty-eighth Virginia), commanded by Pickett, set out 
from Kinston on the Neuse River in North Carolina. 
They were to threaten Newbern on the south side of the 
Neuse River. On the north side of the Neuse there was 
to be a demonstration by Bearing's cavalry and three 
regiments of infantry. Matt. Ransom's North Carolina 
brigade. Barton's and Terry's Virginia brigades, under 
command of Barton, marched along the Trent River 
to destroy the railroad to Morehead City, and were di- 
rected to attack on the south side as soon as the Federals 
should be diverted by the threatened assault of Pickett 
and Bearing. Simultaneously with these movements, 
Colonel R. Taylor Wood, with a naval force in small 
boats, was to make a night excursion down the Neuse 
River to Newbern and attack the gunboats. 

The troops left Kinston just after nightfall in order 
that they might make their appearance at the specified 
points at daylight. They were buoyant and hopeful. 
The start was excellent. Everything seemed propitious, 
victory apparently smiling on the efforts of all. 

Bearing's feint upon the north was successful in attract- 
ing the attention of the Federals from the real objective 
point. Colonel Wood effected a complete surprise, and cap- 
tured the gunboat Underwriter under the guns of the forts. 



332 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

At two o'clock in the morning, Pickett's infantry met 
the Federal troops at Bachelor's Creek seven miles dis- 
tant from Newbern. The advance picket and vedette 
were silently captured, and the reserve sought protection 
in a small fort just beyond the bridge. This bridge, be- 
ing made of loose planks, was taken away by the guard in 
the retreat, and the stream, too deep to ford, proved 
an impassable barrier to the assailants. Thus the Con- 
federate advance was checked, and the gallant little Fed- 
eral force held its position till it was reinforced. During 
this engagement sixty-seven men were killed; among 
them, Colonel Shaw, who was supporting the advance. 

Early in the morning Hoke's brigade crossed the 
stream, flanking the Federals and opening the way to 
Newbern. Corse had already crossed, captured a large 
force of Federals, which had been encamped on the rail- 
road, and forced back the garrison into Newbern, 

The Confederates had succeeded in surprising New- 
bern, and had taken all the outworks and defenses in 
front. Almost victorious, they waited with impatience 
for the attack on the other side, which was to have been 
made by Barton's column, and which would have enabled 
them to enter Newbern without opposition. Not a sound 
was heard. The suspense was unbearable. Fear and 
anxiety began to crowd out hope. 

The marsh prevented communication between the dif- 
ferent divisions of the troops. The failure was incom- 
prehensible to all. Hour after hour of restless impatience 
went by and yet no gun was fired, no attack was made by 
Barton's column. Through a whole day of torture Pickett 
waited in deathlike suspense with the prize of Newbern 
almost within his grasp. Barton, it seems, regarded the 
Federal defenses as too formidable to attack with any 
reasonable hopes of success. 



NEW BERN. 333 

Pickett remained the whole of the next day in front of 
Newbern, hoping against hope, and praying still that Bar- 
ton would even yet make an attack. The special couriers 
he had sent out at intervals to try to reach Barton not re- 
turning, the next morning, heart-sick and disappointed, 
he deemed it expedient to retire toward Kinston. 

Though the Newbern expedition failed in its primal 
object, it resulted in important advantages. Besides the 
capture of five hundred prisoners and over two hundred 
horses, the Confederates found comfort and temporary 
relief in the valuable capture of subsistence stores, cloth- 
ing, shoes and camp equipage. 

General Pickett gives an account of Newbern in the 
following field-notes: 

Headquarters Department 07 North Carolina, 

February 15, 1864. 

General: I have the honor to report that, in accordance with in- 
structions received from General Lee, under date of January 20, 1864, 
the expedition left Kinston, as follows: 

On the morning of the 30th ultimo General Barton, with his own 
brigade and that of Kemper, three regiments of Ransom's, eight rifled 
pieces, six Napoleons, and six hundred cavalry, started to cross the Trent 
and take the works in front of Newbern, in reverse, and prevent the 
enemy from being reinforced by land or water. Later in the day I sent 
off the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Virginia, with three pieces of artillery, 
Whitford's regiment, and three hundred cavalry, to report to Colonel 
Bearing on the north side of the Neuse River. He was to have attacked, 
if practicable, Fort Anderson, Barrington's. Commander Wood, of the 
navy, with his boat party, left on the 31st ultimo, and I, with Hoke's bri- 
gade, three regiments of Corse's and two of Clingman's brigades, five 
rifled pieces, five Napoleons, and thirty cavalry, started on the evening 
of the 30th ultimo. 

The attack was to have been made simultaneously by the different 
parties on Monday morning. Barton, with his cavalry, was to cut the 
railroad and cross Brice's Creek, taking the forts on the bank of the 
Nease, and pass across the railroad bridge. If he succeeded only in the 
first step he would effectually cut off reinforcements. Bearing, by tak- 



334 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

ing Fort Anderson, would have a direct fire upon the town, and an 
enfilading fire upon the works in front of it. Commander Wood, having 
received the gunboats, would co-operate, and I, with the party under my 
command, would create a diversion, draw off the enemy and, if the 
chance offered, enter the town. 

Accordingly, on Monday morning, at one o'clock, I pushed forward 
General Hoke. He was met at Bachelor's Creek, nine miles from New- 
bern, by a strong force of the enemy, who were evidently surprised. The 
night being dark, and the enemy being posted in a strong position after 
having destroyed the bridge, it was impracticable for General Hoke to 
force a passage till after daylight. This he did in most gallant style. 

At this, time the enemy, reinforcing heavily by railroad, and trying 
to rake our lines with the guns on the steam ironclads, attempted to 
turn my right flank. I threw Corse forward to drive them in, which he 
did handsomely, and Clingman, with his two regiments, followed General 
Hoke. After effecting the crossing, the enemy were hotly pursued, but 
as we had no cavalry, and our men were much worn by the long night's 
march, and had not been allowed fires, we were unable to press our ad- 
vantage as we would have done had there been fresh troops on hand. In 
fact, it was three o'clock before General Corse could come to the cross- 
ing of the Neuse road with the railroad, some two and a half miles from 
the town. There was unfortunately no co-operation, the other parties 
having failed to attack, and I found we were making the fight single- 
handed. 

Commander Wood went down the Neuse on the night of the 31st, 
with his party, but did not find the gunboats. Dearing found Fort 
Anderson too strong to attack. Barton's cavalry failed to cut the rail- 
road and telegraph at Morehead City. This was afterwards done by 
General Martin, but no communication of the fact was received from 
General Barton till some time after we moved back. General Barton 
sent a message to me by courier, on Tuesday morning, saying he found 
the work laid out for him impracticable. This not being satisfactory 
to me, I sent Captain Bright, my aide-de-camp, across the Trent to com- 
municate with him in person. This was accomplished by Captain Bright 
at a great risk. General Barton stated to him that he had been entirely 
misinformed as to the strength of the place. He pronounced the works 
too strong to take, saying that he had made no advance and did not 
intend to, and that he had twice sent out his cavalry to cut the railroad, 
and they had returned without accomplishing it. 

Captain Bright then, by my direction, ordered him to join me. Gen- 
eral Barton said he would try to cross at Pollocksville, but would be un- 



NEWBERN. 335 

able to do it that night (the 2d). He expressed some doubt as lo whether 
he could cross at that point. Should he fail there he would be com- 
pelled to go much higher up the river. Thus the earliest possible mo- 
ment at which he could have joined me would have been on the evening 
of the 3d instant. This would have delayed my attack until the 4th. 
General Barton afterwards informed me that he could, positively, have 
done nothing on his side of the river. 

General Barton had orders from me, in case he found it impracti- 
cable to perform his part of the work, which was the most important, to 
cross at once to me, and let me try a "coup de maht. " I could, how- 
ever, hear nothing from him for some time, and when I did, it was 
through the unsatisfactory note I have mentioned. 

On the night of the ist instant. Commander Wood gallantly at- 
tacked and took the six-gun steamer Underwriter, but was compelled to 
burn her, thus losing her invaluable service. The enemy having had 
ample time to reinforce, both by water and land, and the whole plan by 
which the place was to be reduced having failed, I deemed it prudent, 
after consulting with my officers, to withdraw, which we did at our 
leisure. 

The result may be summed up as follows, viz. : Killed and wounded, 
about one hundred; captured, thirteen officers, two hundred and eighty- 
four privates (fourteen colored), two rifled pieces and caissons, three 
kundred stand of small arms, four ambulances, three wagons, two hun- 
dred animals, a quantity of clothing and garrison equipage, and two 
flags. Commander Wood, Confederate States navy, captured and de- 
stroyed United States gunboat Underwriter. Our loss about forty- 
five killed and wounded. A correct list will be forwarded. 

I found the ground in my front swept by half a dozen forts, one of 
them mounting seven rifled guns, with which they fired at pleasure over 
and into our line of battle. Had I had a whole force in hand, I have 
little doubt that we could have gone in easily, taking the place by sur- 
prise. I would not advise a movement against Newbern or Washington 
again until the ironclads are done. 

In the meantime, having received despatches that the enemy were in 
force at Suffolk and advancing on Blackwater, I deemed it prudent to 
send General CHngman back to Petersburg. 

I have as yet received no written report from General Barton, but 
from the light which I have, am of the opinion that he should have ad- 
vanced at the same time that I did. Had he done so, the enemy being 
fully employed by me, he would probably have carried out this part of the 
plan. I am informed that there was no infantry on that side of the river. 



336 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The present operations I was afraid of from the first, as there were 
too many contingencies. I should have wished more concentration, bat 
still hope the effect produced by the expedition may prove beneficial. 
I am. General, very respectfully, 

G. E. Pickett, 
General S. Cooper, Major-General Commanding. 

Major-General Commanding, 
Assistant Inspector-General, 

Richmond, Va. 

Barton's explanation of his inaction at Newbern is, that 
although he had made every safe and proper exertion to 
gain information regarding the position of the enemy, and 
had been assured by those whom he was forced to be- 
lieve trustworthy that there were no fortifications at 
Newbern other than those abandoned by the Confederates 
at the capture of the place, yet when he got there he found 
an invincible array of forts, breastworks and field-works, 
bristling with so deadly an array of guns that further prog- 
ress was impossible. 



CHAPTER XL. 

Pickett's voluntary defense of Petersburg. 

The expedition to capture Plymouth, the capital of 
Washington County, North Carolina, which General Pick- 
ett had planned to take effect some time before, was just 
then about to set out. 

This town, situated a few miles south of Roanoke River 
where it enters Albemarle Sound, had been captured in 
1862 by an expedition led by Burnside, and was now oc- 
cupied by twenty-four hundred men under command of 
Wessells. 

Pickett now maintained that too much time had been 
wasted, and that the delay of this project, which delay had 
had its origin with the authorities at Richmond, rendered 
the execution of the plan at this late hour both rash and in- 
expedient. He held that, inasmuch as danger threatened 
Petersburg, the troops then in North Carolina for the pur- 
pose of moving on to Plymouth, instead of being kept 
there, should be ordered back at once to the defense of 
the endangered city. 

Pickett again pointed out the weakness of Petersburg, 
how ineffectual were the defenses on the tide-water and 
approach to Richmond, and pleaded that immediate action 
should be taken in that direction. He asked that the ex- 
pedition be abandoned, and that the three brigades of his 
division (Barton's, Corse's and Terry's) which had been 
left in North Carolina after the affair of Newbern should 
be sent to him without delay. Hunton's brigade of his di- 
vision was still retained around the defenses of Richmond. 

22 337 



338 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The authorities at Richmond giving no heed to Pick- 
ett's warning, and taking no cognizance of his appeals in 
behalf of Petersburg, he, in his desperation, sent a special 
courier with a confidential letter to General Lee, who was 
then on the Rapidan with the Army of Northern Virginia, 
telling him of his unheeded repeated warnings and re- 
quests, and of his fruitless interview with the Secretary of 
War. 

General Pickett pointed out to General Lee the ex- 
treme danger to the Confederacy at that point and the 
perils of further procrastination. General Lee, by return 
courier, wrote as follows: 

Consult at tmce with General Beauregard. I myself, General Pick- 
ett, am in perfect sympathy with your apprehensions Will 

despatch ofl&cer to Richmond to-night, urging immediate action upon 

your request 

R. E. Lee, General. 

Beauregard was then in command around Charleston, 
South Carolina. Without loss of time he and Pickett met 
by appointment at Weldon, North Carolina. Pickett laid 
before Beauregard the letter of General Lee, and explained 
the actual critical condition of affairs, the absolute cer- 
tainty of the immediate attack of the Federals on this 
the most vulnerable approach to the capital of the Con- 
federacy, and the inadequacy of any force which he had 
at his command to repel such an attack. 

Beauregard expressed himself at once as being in per- 
fect unison of sentiment with Pickett, agreeing to the pro- 
priety of all he said. He proffered his co-operation and 
assistance, and promised to reinforce Pickett as speedily 
as possible with whatever troops he could spare. 

Upon Pickett's return to Petersburg he found that in 
the face of all argument, in spite of all warning, the expe- 
dition to Plymouth had been ordered forward. 



PICKE TTS DEFENSE OF PE TERSE URG. 3 39 

General Pickett having planned the capture of Plym- 
outh, he was, of course, to have commanded in person, 
but just upon the eve of his starting out from his head- 
quarters at Petersburg he received a despatch from the 
War Department at Richmond, directing him to turn over 
the command to Brigadier-General Hoke. The command 
consisted of Hoke's, Terry's and Ransom's brigades. 
Barton's, Corse's and Terry's brigades were kept in North 
Carolina against the advice and warning of both Beaure- 
gard and Pickett, who strongly urged that they be sent to 
Petersburg to the support of Pickett, who had but a hand- 
ful of men to guard the weakest point of the Confederacy, 
the open gate to Richmond, its capital. Beauregard sent 
a cipher despatch to Pickett, saying: 

I have no control over these troops, or they should be ordered at 
once to your relief. With you, I am nonplused and at sea with con- 
jectures. It is but a question nov^r 

On the 2d day of May, 1864, Pickett was ordered to 
report to the Army of Northern Virginia, and Beauregard 
was assigned to the division of North Carolina. 

The 3d of May, my uncle. Dr. John T. Phillips, who 
was a practicing physician at Ivor on the Norfolk and 
Petersburg Railroad, sent a special message by a trusty 
old neighbor to Pickett, to the effect that Butler, with 
fleet and transports all in readiness, was only awaiting 
orders to advance. This letter Pickett sent over at once 
to the War Department and telegraphed its contents to 
Beauregard, who, being ill, sent to Pickett his inspector- 
general. Major Giles T. Cooke, and his chief engineer, 
Colonel D. B. Harris. 

On the 5th of May, the very day of Butler's advance, 
Colonel Walter Harrison, Pickett's inspector-general, and 
Major Giles T. Cooke, Beauregard's inspector-general, 



340 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

had gone down from Petersburg to inspect the lines of 
defense and troops on the Blackwater River at Ivor on 
the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. They learned that 
the signals on the James River were telegraphing the 
passage of Butler's fleet and transports. Colonel Harrison 
hastened back in the train to Petersburg and confirmed 
the information already signaled to Pickett. 

Butler had only been awaiting the co-operation of Gen- 
eral Grant, who was to move from the Rapidan on to 
Richmond from the north. On the 5th of May, the at- 
tack against which Pickett had so often warned the War 
Department was made. Butler came up the James River 
with his whole force in transports, protected by his gun- 
boats, and landed without opposition at City Point and Ber- 
muda Hundred, lying between the James and Appomat- 
tox Rivers. A whole division of his cavalry moved di- 
rectly toward Petersburg along the line of the Blackwater. 
Notwithstanding the repeated warning of Pickett, the gov- 
ernment was totally unprepared and the country at large 
completely surprised. Thus the world heeds its clear- 
visioned seers now, who tell of evil because they must, no 
more than in the olden days when the sorrowful Cassandra 
wandered sadly and alone in the sacred laurel grove of 
Apollo and poured forth her mournful plaint for a nation 
that would not see. 

As stated above, on the night of the 2d of May. 
when Beauregard was assigned to the Department of North 
Carolina, Pickett received orders to report to the Army 
of Northern Virginia. He could not, however, turn a 
deaf ear to the pleadings of the council and the prayers 
and entreaties of the panic-stricken people of Petersburg, 
as well as to the mandates of his own brave and tender 
heart, and leave the city to the mercy of sword and flame. 
He instantly made every available disposition for the de- 



PICKE TT 'S DEFENSE OF PE TEKSB URG. 34 1 

fense of the place, with the small means at his command, 
which, all told, was one regiment of infantry of Cling- 
man's North Carolina brigade, and a few pieces of artil- 
lery. 

On the Blackwater River there was a portion of Cling- 
man's brigade, one regiment of infantry — the Twenty-ninth 
Virginia — one battery of artillery, and a small squad of 
cavalry. The only infantry regiment he moved out in 
front of the works on the City Point road and put on 
picket-duty all along the line. The eleven pieces of 
artillery, which was all he had, he placed in the works at 
that point. 

In his defense of Petersburg, Pickett verified the state- 
ment of General Grant, " The rebels are robbing the cradle 
and the grave," for the militia and every available citizen 
of every sort and condition were ordered out and com- 
manded to advance in the direction of the Federals. 

The small force on the Blackwater River was ordered 
back immediately. The heroic, unselfish wives and 
daughters of the Confederacy carried the despatches and 
cooked the food for their soldiers and defenders. 

Now, with but six hundred men, two hundred of whom 
were only partially effective, Pickett awaited the approach 
of Butler with his thirty thousand strong. A small force 
it was, counted by men and guns, but how inconceivably 
strong and great when measured by determination, by 
ardor, by enthusiasm, and, greatest of all, by a firm and 
abiding love. Did not every man from the brave leader 
to the weakest private feel his heart thrill tumultuously 
as he reflected that behind him stood home, friends, loved 
ones, the closest and dearest of family ties, all that his 
heart held dear in life, dependent on the valor and skill 
with which he held his ground? 

A small and feeble band, it might be said, to face such 



342 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

odds, but it was led by the same Pickett who, with one 
company of United States regulars, held the whole British 
fleet at bay at San Juan Island, and made the English 
lion crouch to the star-spangled banner. Would not he 
who had fought so bravely for a little strip of earth on 
which a nation had risked its honor, after the reckless 
fashion of nations, battle with yet more ardent heroism 
for home and loved ones, dearer to every true man than 
aught else? 

A portion of Haygood's South Carolina brigade, the 
first reinforcement of troops from the south, arrived on 
the 6th of May, the next day after the attack. Pickett 
stationed them at Port Walthall Junction, on the railroad 
between Richmond and Petersburg, about six miles dis- 
tant from the latter place. The whole of Beauregard's 
army was south of Petersburg and was on its way toward 
the defense of Richmond on the south side. Hence it was 
all-important that this connection between Petersburg and 
Richmond should be kept open. Pickett, knowing this, 
detained this brigade on his own responsibility, although 
he had been ordered in a telegram from Bragg, of the 
War Department in Richmond, to send them directly on 
to Richmond. It was only by the intervention of this 
gallant little force of Haygood's brave South Carolinians, 
who had a sharp skirmish with Butler's advance column, 
driving them back, that the Federals were kept off of the 
railroad and the connection between the two cities was 
preserved unbroken. 

The Weldon Railroad was threatened by Kautz's cavalry 
division, which had worked its way around in the rear and 
to the south of Petersburg and attempted to intercept 
Beauregard's troops on that railroad. Though they failed, 
they yet caused delay in transportation of these troops. 
On the 7th of May, Wise's Virginia brigade arrived in 



PICKETT'S DEFENSE OF PETERSBURG. 343 

Petersburg, and was sent out on the line toward City 
Point. 

Then the three brigades of Pickett's division began 
coming in as fast as the broken-down, worn-out express 
could bring them. All now breathed easier and felt 
less apprehension of immediate danger, but the fear and 
anxiety of the women and children during those days 
of trial and danger is beyond description. The roar of 
cannon, shot and shell filled their ears through all the 
long day and night. Every reverberation brought a 
new, swift dart of pain. Who had lost a loved one with 
that shot? Whose heart was made desolate with this 
sudden, deafening roar? Whose husband, father, son, 
brother or sweetheart would go with the next death- 
knell? How soon will our homes be in ashes? Will 
they capture the city? Thus the deadly balls from the 
cruel guns tore through our hearts with every passing 
moment. 

Years away from that time of anguish and terror I 
awaken suddenly with the crash of those guns still in my 
ears, their fearful sounds yet echoing in my heart, only to 
find myself safe in my soft, warm bed with my little grand- 
son, the golden-haired George E. Pickett IV,, nestling 
close in my arms. 

Our home in Petersburg was situated on High street, 
the old Mcllwaine House, a beautiful home with a large 
yard and tall trees and flowers, green grass and fountains. 
It was filled with anxious, troubled hearts, women and 
children coming and going all day and all night. To one 
and all I said: 

" Be not afraid. As long as General Pickett's arm is 
raised in your defense no harm can come to you. I, his 
wife, share your danger, and the General will obey no 
order that will take him away from your defense till you 



344 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

are safe. You can depend upon my noble, self-sacrificing 
hero. Trust and wait." 

They not only trusted in their brave defender, but gave 
him of their courage and strength in helping him to keep 
up a brave show and deceive the enemy, cheering the 
trains as they came in, though, alas ! they were but empty 
coaches. 

They would gather at the station as each train was due 
from the short trip it made into the country to keep up 
the appearance of transacting a large business in transpor- 
tation, and send up cheer after cheer of welcome, fondly 
hoping the Federals would not be cognizant of the fact 
that there were none to be welcomed except the feeble, 
half-starved men who ran the trains. There were none, 
to the eye, but to the heart were not those whistling, 
rumbling trains full to overflowing with gallant forms, 
clad in the beautiful gray that we loved, adorned with 
flashing swords, carrying muskets that meant protection 
for us, and above all, with faces that had bent in truest 
love to our own? 

Such a week of anxiety as the General passed, only he 
can know who holds in his hand the homes, the lives, the 
honor, of men, women and children. For almost that 
length of time Pickett had not slept, and for three days 
had not been near our home. His soup and bread and 
coffee, I myself had carried to him out on the lines. I 
had George and Bob and Charles, my cook, butler and 
gardener, out on despatch-duty. Each and all had done 
their part, and they had not trusted in vain in the bravery 
and strategy of their fearless defender, for, as General 
Grant had said in his telegram to President Lincoln, 
Pickett had bottled up Butler at Petersburg. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

A STRANGE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION. 

" General Pickett, a miracle has been performed. You 
have saved Petersburg, and you have made a longer-lived 
nation of the Confederacy." 

This was the salutation of Beauregard to Pickett, 
upon his relieving Pickett, at Petersburg, in May, 1864. 

Our equipments were all packed, and we were on the 
eve of departing from Petersburg, in conformity with 
the orders received by the General before the Federal 
attack upon the city. Now that our people were no 
longer in danger, we were to go, taking with us the 
thanks of the council and the love and gratitude of the 
whole city. 

We left Petersburg on Monday, the i6th of May, 1864, 
as the morning of my birthday was dawning. I was in a 
carriage with my maid and a few of my personal effects. 
Tom Friend, a courier, was riding in front, and Bob, the 
valet, was on the General's battle-horse, " Old Black," and 
leading my riding-horse, " Mileaway," saddled, so that I 
could ride with the General when he felt that it was judi- 
cious to gratify me. 

When the General and his staff rode up I was looking 
back at the city in the distance, my soul flooded with the 
blessed memories of our happy bridal days. The sun was 
rising and lighting with its early rays the far-off church 
wherein eight months before we had plighted our troth. 
We looked into each other's eyes, my General and I, then 
back at the church, then upward and onward. We under- 

345 



346 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

stood; our souls translated for us the poem of the look 
— then the General rode on. 

In many ways had my dear ones always shown loving 
memory of my birthday, but to-day a new celebration was 
in store for me. The Federals were to grace the occasion. 
I could not help contrasting in my mind various kinds of 
entertainment, and wondering if many young people had 
celebrated their natal days in so many different manners. 
Child, almost, as I was, I wondered if I should ever again 
dance with light feet and a merry heart at a real birth- 
day fete. 

Thus I rode through the dewy morn, the first golden 
rays of the sun making a veil of glory from the mist that 
shimmered in evanescent beauty to the touch of the gentle 
wind. They lit with an amber glow the edges of the fresh, 
newly opened leaves, rustling to the soft movement of the 
morning breeze. They struck glittering shafts through 
the dewdrops that quivered on the blades of grass, and 
changed them to diamonds pendent, trembling in emerald 
settings. The echo of the cannonade that had thundered 
against the loved city in which were centered so many sweet 
memories and so many reminiscences of terror yet seemed 
to strike upon ear and heart, but a little bird in a tree close 
by arched its irised neck and from its tiny throat came a 
flood of melody that drowned discordant recollections. 

The bottled general being still " corked up," and Peters- 
burg being for the time safe, Beauregard deemed it ex- 
pedient to move with the greater portion of his force 
toward Richmond and Drury's Bluff on the James River, 
leaving Whiting in command at Petersburg. Beaure- 
gard's lines extended from the Howlett House on the 
James River to Fort Clifton on the Appomattox below 
Petersburg. On the south side of the Appomattox there 
was a very small force for the defense of Petersburg. 



A STRANGE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION. ZA7 

On the 15th of May, 1864, Whiting received orders 
from Bragg, of the War Department at Richmond, to with- 
draw his whole force from Petersburg and move by a 
roundabout road some distance in the rear of Drury's 
Bluff so as to get into the defenses of Richmond from the 
rear. 

Whiting was both amazed and indignant at being 
obliged to abandon Petersburg after its almost miraculous 
escape and to leave it thus entirely unprotected, but, fear- 
ing to disobey, he, in accordance with Bragg's directions, 
issued marching orders for the following day. This most 
remarkable order of Bragg was signaled to Beauregard 
by Colonel Walter Harrison who, at the solicitation of 
Whiting, was for the time serving on his staff. Beaure- 
gard at once sent an order through Colonel Logan to 
Whiting, directing him to move with his command at 
daylight on the i6th of May, and attack Butler on his 
left, thus co-operating with Beauregard in his attack. 
Whiting was delighted by this change of order, and 
most enthusiastic at the prospect of meeting the Fed- 
erals. 

At Drury's Bluff, where some of the batteries were 
stationed to prevent the fleet from passing up the river, 
Beauregard had three divisions under Ransom, Hoke and 
Colquitt. In Ransom's division were two of Pickett's 
brigades. Barton's, commanded by Colonel Fry, and 
Kemper's old brigade, under Terry. Another of Pickett's 
brigades. Corse's, was in Hoke's division. 

Beauregard's intention was to cut off the Federals 
from their base of operations at Bermuda Hundred, and 
on the 15th of May, he issued orders for battle on the next 
day. In a letter written some years after the close of the 
war Beauregard thus sets forth his intentions in regard to 
this battle: 



348 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

We reached Drury's Bluff at three o'clock in the morning in a ter- 
rible rain-storm, passing between Butler's left and the river. Sent Col- 
onel Stevens of the Engineers to President Davis to tell him that if he 
■would that day (the 14th) send me ten thousand men from the troops 
about Richmond (five thousand under Ransom) and General Lee's army, 
I would take Butler's thirty thousand men (who had been successful on 
the afternoon of the 13th in taking the outer line of defenses) and capture 
or destroy them by twelve on the 15th. I would then move to attack 
Grant on his left flank and rear, while Lee attacked him in front, and I 
felt sure of defeating Grant and probably opening the way to Washing- 
ton, where we might dictate ;peace. 

Beauregard was not successful in his efforts to induce 
Brag-g to issue the necessary orders to enable him to carry 
out his plans though he appealed to him with an earnest- 
ness which might seem irresistible: 

" Bragg, circumstances have thrown the fate of the 
Confederacy in your hands and mine. Let us play our 
parts boldly and fearlessly! Issue those orders and I will 
carry them out to the best of my ability. I will guarantee 
success." 

Notwithstanding the rigidness of Bragg and the con- 
flicting orders issued to Whiting, Beauregard fought and 
won his battle on the i6th, starting out in the heavy fog 
of the early dawn. He almost totally annihilated Heck- 
man's Star Brigade, took prisoners its leader and several 
hundred of the men, and drove Butler's entire army 
toward Bermuda Hundred. 

Three brigades of Pickett's division, Barton's, Corse's 
and Terry's, were engaged in this battle, behaving with 
great gallantry, but suffering heavily. 

Colonel Joseph C. Cabell, of the Thirty-eighth Vir- 
ginia, the only field-officer who came out of the battle of 
Gettysburg unhurt, was killed in this action. 

Among the many who were killed was Colonel Ham- 
brick, of the Twenty-fourth Virginia. Major Robert H. 



A STRANGE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION. 349 

Simpson, of the Seventeenth Virginia, was so severely 
wounded that he died shortly afterward. 

Whiting so far obeyed the instructions of Beauregard 
as to cross the Appomattox River at daylight and move 
with his command toward Drury's Bluff, but his energy, 
alas! was paralyzed by a second order from Bragg, and he 
fell back upon Petersburg without striking a single blow, 
without giving any substantial aid to Beauregard's project. 

Beauregard was distressed and disappointed. He 
affirmed that, had Whiting assisted him in the conjoint 
attack which he had planned, Butler's entire army would 
have been destroyed. 

Beauregard, on being informed that Grant was cross- 
ing to the south side of James River below City Point, 
was obliged to abandon his position, in order that he 
might defend Petersburg, on the south side of the Ap- 
pomattox. 

Lee was promptly notified by Beauregard of his inten- 
tions, but was unable to relieve him in time. Beauregard 
was, in consequence, forced to leave the intrenchments, 
and Butler, on the morning of the i6th of May, walked 
into them without opposition. He thus reached the Rich- 
mond and Petersburg Railroad, which was unprotected, 
and had begun destroying it, when run off by the advance 
of Pickett's division. 

At daylight, also on the i6th of May, Hunton's bri- 
gade set off in advance from Malvern Hill, followed by the 
rest of Longstreet's corps. Between two and three o'clock 
in the afternoon, while this column was moving along the 
Petersburg turnpike, about ten miles from Petersburg, 
Anderson, who was then commanding the corps, and 
Pickett with his staff, riding along together about a quar- 
ter of a mile in advance of the column, were ambushed 
and fired upon by a portion of Butler's troops. Hunton's 



350 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

brigade was hurried up as quickly as possible, followed 
by the other brigades. The Federal forces were driven 
back toward Bermuda Hundred. They fought hard to 
hold the line recently given up by Beauregard, but the 
whole line was retaken, and was held by Pickett's division 
from that time on until March, 1865, when it was relieved 
by Mahone's division and sent off to meet Sheridan's 
cavalry raid upon the upper James and around Richmond. 
Lee said it was not his intention that this attack on 
Bermuda Hundred should be carried to such an extent, 
but he was so delighted and gratified with the result, and 
so proud of the perseverance and daring of his brave 
Virginians that he afterward wrote a complimentary 
acknowledgment of their service in the following letter 
to Anderson: 

Clay's House, 5.30 p.m., June 17, 1864. 
Lieutenant-General R. H. Anderson, 

Commanding Longstreet's Corps. 
General: I take great pleasure in presenting to you my congratula- 
tions upon the conduct of the men of your corps. I believe they will 
carry anything they are put against. We tried very hard to stop Pick- 
ett's men from capturing the breastworks of the enemy, but could not 
do it. I hope his loss has been small. 

I am, with respect, your obedient servant, 

R. E. Lee, General. 

On the 17th, the morning after the battle of Drury's 
Farm, Longstreet's corps pursued the Federals to the 
Howlett House on the James River, and bivouacked for 
the night in an unfinished earthwork not more than six 
hundred yards from the Federal gunboats and monitors, 
which kept up an incessant shelling throughout the night. 

On the i8th, the corps marched toward Manchester, 
and thence on the morning of the 20th, by way of the 
Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to Milford Station, 



A STRANGE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION. 35 1 

where it had a skirmish with the Federals. It is said that 
this fight, together with the misleading statement by some 
captured scouts that Lee's headquarters were just across 
the river in the large white house, and that his whole army 
was close by, delayed Grant for several hours and enabled 
Lee to cross the North Anna in advance, for which point 
he set out the next day. 

On Wednesday, the 25th of May, the old division was 
again reunited, and moved to the right on a parallel line 
with the Federal army, frequent skirmishing along the 
front making the death-roll larger. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

COLD HARBOR. 

In Revolutionary days Cool Arbor was a favorite sum- 
mer resort for Virginia society. We can imagine our fore- 
fathers and foremothers retreating before the vindictive 
assaults of the fierce rays of the Virginia sun to the re- 
freshing shades which gave to Cool Arbor its invigorating 
title. 

Perhaps the Father of his Country rested here from 
the cares devolved upon him by his unmanageable infant. 
Alexander Hamilton, turning from contemplation of state 
papers and military reports, may have unbent his austere 
mind in this sylvan spot, seeking that social relaxation in 
which the gravest intellect must sometimes indulge. 

Through the corridors of Cool Arbor Inn gracious co- 
lonial dames and demoiselles walked in majestic array, or 
gracefully moved through the mazes of the dance, hap- 
pily unconscious of the complicated labyrinths of her- 
aldry they were weaving for future generations. 

Heroic followers of Mars turned from devotion to 
their stern divinity and enlisted in the service of Cupid^ 
willingly relinquishing their laurels as conquerors, and con- 
senting to deck their .brows with the myrtles of the con- 
quered. 

Alas, that classic and poetic situations will in time — 
and so short a time, too — fade into the merest traditions 
and become only fanciful ornamentations for works of 
fiction. With the lapse of generations Cool Arbor, with 
all its delightful umbrageous suggestions, became com- 

352 



COLD HARBOR. 353 

monplace Cold Harbor, with occasional deterioration into 
Coal Harbor, grimy and repellant. No more trailing of 
soft silken and lace robes through the shaded corridors of 
the old colonial inn. No more tread of martial step, soft- 
ened deferentially to keep pace with the graceful fall of 
delicately slippered feet. 

As Cold Harbor, the domain was wrested from the 
gentle sway of the tender gods and relegated to the 
sterner rule of crimson-hued Mars. The old inn, which 
in its ancient Cool Arbor days had softly echoed to the 
melodious notes of harp and spinet, became the head- 
quarters of the commander-in-chief of a great army, and 
its walls resounded with military orders and the multi- 
tudinous discords of war. 

For a second time Cold Harbor became the scene of a 
battle. In the evolution of the wheel of time the two 
armies drew near each other at almost the same point on 
the historic river which two years before had furnished a 
field for the battle of Gaines's Mill, otherwise known as 
the first battle of Cold Harbor. 

Grant had been appointed lieutenant-general and 
placed in command of all the United States armies, choos- 
ing his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, in 
heroic defiance of the political wires which had been 
woven into a death-trap for most of the commanders 
whose fortunes had heretofore been linked with the east- 
ern branch of the Federal army. 

Over a crimson road had the two armies returned to 
Cold Harbor. The Wilderness had become one great, 
wide graveyard. The wind which soughed through the 
dark and heavy forest sighed a requiem over nearly fifty 
thousand of Grant's men. 

From October, 1863, until May, 1864, Pickett's division 
was detached from the Army of Northern Virginia. On. 

23 



354 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

May 25 it reported to Lee at Hanover Junction, and was 
stationed at the front to oppose Grant's attempted cross- 
ing of the North Anna. Hunton's brigade was near the 
old battle-field of Gaines's Mill. While it held this posi- 
tion Captain Charles F. Linthicum, the adjutant-general 
of the brigade, was killed, and Lieutenant John H. Jones, 
aide-de-camp, was severely wounded. They had both 
done valiant service with the old division ever since 1862. 

On the night of the 31st of May the First Corps under 
Anderson, Longstreet having been wounded in the Wilder- 
ness a few days before, marched with its artillery to a 
point near Cold Harbor to join General Hoke in an at- 
tack upon Grant's left. As the Federal army was strongly 
defended, the assault was postponed and the Confederates 
prepared fortifications. 

Grant had reached nearly the same point in his march 
down the river which McClellan, in 1862, had gained in his 
upward progress. He was expecting reinforcements from 
the Army of the James, then lyingbefore Richmond. Fear- 
ing that they would be met and cut off by Lee from the 
south, he drew down upon the northern bank to intercept 
any such movement. Sheridan v/as sent with his cavalry 
and an artillery force to secure Cold Harbor, where he was 
heavily attacked on the morning of June i, maintaining 
his ground with great difficulty until late in the afternoon, 
when he was reinforced by the Sixth Corps and ten thou- 
sand troops under General W. F. Smith. 

In the afternoon of June i, a fierce attack was made 
by Smith and Wright upon Hoke and Kershaw, whose 
outer line was broken. So gallant a defense they made 
that the advance of the assailants was arrested, and the 
price of the position gained by the attack was two thou- 
sand killed and wounded, many of them officers. 

At the same time there was a contest on the left of the 



COLD HARBOR. 355 

line, in which the Federals were repulsed. The forest was 
so dense that artillery could not be used, but some guns 
were placed along the lines of Kershaw, Pickett and Field 
and did good service through the next day. 

Night closed the contest of June i. Before morning 
Grant had transferred his right to a point beyond Cold 
Harbor road, and Lee had sent Hill and Breckenridge 
to the defense of his right. Pickett's division was sta- 
tioned, with the rest of the First Corps, between new and 
old Cold Harbor. The troops of Breckenridge and Hill 
extended to the Chickahominy. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry 
guarded the line between the Chickahominy and the 
James. North of the First Corps and to its left was 
Ewell's corps, commanded by Early. At the extreme 
left was Heth's division. Over them the June sun poured 
down floods of heat and around them surged heavy clouds 
of dust as the troops marched over the field on the 2d 
of June. 

The afternoon of the 2d Lee ordered an assault 
upon Grant's right, which was found to be so strongly 
posted as to be invincible; whereupon Early erected de- 
fenses and waited. At about five o'clock in the afternoon 
a heavy fall of rain began, continuing into the night. 
That night orders were issued by Grant for an assault all 
along the line. About half past four the next morning, 
Friday, a single gun to the left of the Federal line gave 
the signal for the advance upon the Confederate position. 

Through the rain of the gray dawn of June 3, a grand 
assault was made along the whole six miles of the line. 
The Confederate guns opened the counter-attack, and 
were followed by the advance of Pickett's skirmishers, 
in which Captain Campbell G. Lawson, of the Fifteenth 
Virginia, was so badly wounded that he was never again 
on a field of battle. 



356 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

From all the angles of the Confederate lines poured a 
stream of fire which left no living thing in its track. Bar- 
low's division of Hancock's corps fell back before a heavy 
rain of shot and shell. Gibbon's division reached the 
parapets and recoiled. Wright and Smith were driven 
back after an hour's fierce contest. While Warren held 
the Confederate line in front, Burnside was to attack the 
left. The outposts fell back before his charge, but the 
order to attack in force was countermanded, the failure of 
the assault on the other part of the line having convinced 
Meade that the works could not be carried. Three thou- 
sand of Hancock's men lay upon the field. 

The order to withdraw was given by Meade, the battle 
of Cold Harbor was over, and nearly ten thousand of 
Grant's troops had gone to reinforce the army of the lost 
in that gloomy and blood-stained Wilderness. Grant or- 
dered a renewal of the attack, but his generals refused to 
obey. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

"lee's miserables." 

As previously stated, the line from Howlett House on 
the James, opposite Dutch Gap Canal, across to Swift 
Creek and Fort Clifton on the Appomattox, was held by 
Pickett's division after the retaking of the lines of Ber- 
muda Hundred, and we were posted in a grove between 
Howlett's and Chester, My brother-in-law and his little 
family were in a log cabin within a stone's throw from our 
own, and many of the officers had brought their wives to 
cheer their winter hours. So there was no lack of social 
diversion. In a small way we had our dances, our con- 
versaziones and musicales, quite like the gay world that 
had never known anything about war except from the 
pages of books and the columns of newspapers. True, we 
did not feast. Our larders were empty. But we rode, and 
drove, and walked, and made calls, very much as leisurely 
people do in peaceful days, when something must be found 
to occupy the idle mind. 

A want more painful for many than the lack of food 
or clothing was the poverty of our libraries. 

Perhaps you tlmik you know the value of the art of 
printing. You go into your library and seat yourself in 
an easy chair and look around with complacent air upon 
your literary treasures. You could not imagine life with- 
out your favorite authors. You hear them speak to you 
through the silence. You feel the air pulsating with their 
swift, strong, warm heart-beats. You stretch out eager 
hands and feel the tender clasp of the hands that grasped 

357 



358 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

life's deepest forces in the ages gone. You stand with 
prophets, poets, kings, of the great world of thought. 
Down in the depths of your soul you thank Faust and 
Gutenberg for having been born. 

You will never have an adequate sense of the extent 
of your indebtedness to those grand old Teutons until you 
have grown accustomed to regarding even a last week's 
newspaper as a gracious benefaction, a summer novel as 
an Olympian gift, a fugitive stanza, drifted across your 
way by a friendly wind, as a great rose-garden of the mind, 
filling your world full of beauty and fragrance. 

If you had known all these things you would realize 
what my feelings were when our good friend, General 
Rufus Ingalls, of the United States army, sent to us across 
the lines a beautiful copy of ^^ Les Miserabksr How we 
wept with Fantine and Cosette! How we loved the good 
Mayor Madeleine, all the dearer to us because he had 
once been Jean Valjean! How we hated Javert, that cold 
and stony pillar of "authority"! How we starved with 
Marius and waxed indignant in contemplating his frigid 
grandfather! How we fought over and over the wonder- 
ful battle of Waterloo, and compared it with other con- 
tests of which we knew! 

The soldiers, with a quick instinct of appropriateness 
born of experience, rechristened the work "Lee's Miser- 
ables," and certainly no book ever achieved the popularity 
of that most marvelous picture of life. They watched 
with eager eyes and hearts its progress along the line. 
They formed groups around the camp-fire and the man 
who was deemed to have the greatest elocutionary devel- 
opment was appointed reader for the assembly. 

"It's our turn now. The General's wife said we were 
to have 'Lee's Miserables' next," one would cry out 
triumphantly. 



"LEE'S MISERABLES." 359 

" It is too good a book to be lent around in this way to 
the men," said a book-lover, jealously, glancing over the 
many penciled marks; for after the initiatory christening 
and comments the men began in turn as they read it to 
write their sentiments, till every space — margin, fly-leaf, 
every spot, in fact, where the pencil could find room for 
a name, a word, a thought — was covered. 

"Let them have the book and mark it all they want 
to, for nothing is too good for the poor devils," said the 
General, as he smilingly read aloud these marginal notes: 
"Abe Lincoln re-elected; has called for a million of men; 
and Jeff Davis says war to the knife. What shall we do? " 
And again, "We sadly miss thy green persimmons, dear 
old Chester, with which thy fields did once so abound, and 
which did mercifully help us in our efforts to draw up our 
stomachs to the size of our rations." " As our fore- 
fathers resisted British tyranny, so we shall resist the as- 
sault upon our constitutional freedom and the sovereignty 
of the States of the Confederacy." 

I have the old book now, and, in comparison with it, 
the most gorgeous edition de luxe of Victor Hugo ever 
sent out by enterprising publisher to ravish the eye of the 
connoisseur is of no value whatever. ^' Les Miserables" 
was one of the few books published in Charleston, and was 
printed on paper manufactured in the Confederacy. The 
General sent on and bought for his men a number of copies 
of it and of several other books published at that time. 

One of my greatest pleasures was to ride along the 
lines with the General. The easy, graceful movement of 
my horse, the amber sunlight, the glint of color in a late 
autumn flower which had escaped the tramp of heavy feet, 
the ringing cheers of the men as they saw us coming, all 
helped to make me lose sight for a moment of the awful 
cause of our being there. 



360 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

One morning as we rode along the Howlett House line, 
I saw a puff of smoke rise in the distance, drifting, scat- 
tering, becoming a mere film as it floated higher and 
higher until it was lost against the blue sky. 

" How pretty that smoke is," I said. 

The General looked at it attentively, then said anx- 
iously: 

"Yes, dangerously beautiful. It is from a shell. The 
enemy have begun firing again. Come, you'd better ride 
on as fast as you can and let me get you beyond the 
danger." 

" No, no. General. I could not do that," I replied, with 
something of the indignation which a soldier might have 
felt upon being recommended to run away from battle. 
•' Never, never, in the wide world would I let Pickett's 
men see your wife riding fast to get away from danger." 

As we rode slowly along amid the cheers of the sol- 
diers, looking as carelessly over at the beautifully curl- 
ing columns of smoke as if they were harmless clouds, 
Captain Smith rode up. 

"They are not firing at us," he said, greeting me and 
saluting the General. "They are testing their guns, I 
think, for the entertainment of Mrs. Grant, who, I learn, 
has this morning come down to the lines. She is just 
over there, as you see, looking on," handing us his glass. 
"Nevertheless, our position is not a safe one. A stray 
ball might accidentally strike us here. Would it not be 
better for you to take Mrs. Pickett away? Turn to the 
left into that clump of trees." 

"She will not go," said the General, "and I can not is- 
sue a military order, as I might in the case of any other 
insubordinate. The only disadvantage. Captain, of having 
a wife is that, whatever place you may hold on the army 
rolls, she outranks you." 



* ' LEE'S MISERABLES. " 36 1 

Thus we sat our horses in the glory of the sunbright 
Southern morning, and chatted gaily of anything, every- 
thing, nothings-just what came to us on the fleet wings 
of the passing moment, while the guns over on the enemy's 
lines troubled the air with their thunderous roar, the puffs 
of smoke adding their touches of artistic grace to the 
landscape. The balls were aimless. They harmed nothing 
but the helpless and unresisting earth, which was scarred 
where they fell. It was a playtime of war. 

The captain bade us adieu, lifted his hat and rode on 
in advance, riding in that graceful way which the South- 
erner has by inheritance from a long line of ancestors 
who have been accustomed to ride over wide reaches 
of land. I watched him as he rode on, then — my heart 
in terror stands still even now, as I faintly try to record 
the dread sight. The captain's horse dashed on down the 
lines, bearing a headless body. One of the aimless balls, 
alas! had found a mark. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

THE BERMUDA HUNDRED LINES. 

When I returned to the Bermuda Hundred lines, 
bringing back with me our blessed little baby, there 
was none of the pomp and panoply of war, though Rich- 
mond and Petersburg were one large camp of soldiers. 
Day by day the North was growing stronger, the South 
weaker. 

A number of Pickett's men had learned of our ex- 
pected arrival, and when the General, thinking the secret 
of our coming was all his own, emerged on horseback 
from a clump of trees near the railway-station, he found 
Colonel Floweree with his band, squads from the dif- 
ferent regiments, the members of his staff and some of 
the brigade and regimental officers, there before him, 
waiting to welcome the new little soldier who was com- 
ing to share with him and them the privations of their 
camp-life. 

As the old train creaked slowly into the station, 
Floweree's band struck up, "See the Conquering^ 
Hero Comes," and cheer after cheer went up for "the 
General's baby," for whom bonfires had been lighted 
twenty-nine days before while the happy father was 
riding hastily into Richmond to welcome his little 
namesake son. He could stay only a few hours, and 
when leaving he leaned over the cradle, thanked God 
for the blessing of our precious little baby, and put 
into his tiny hand the following passport and congratu- 
lations: 

362 



THE BERMUDA HUNDRED LINES. 363 

Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia. 

July 17, 1864. 
Major-General Pickett has permission to visit Richmond and return. 
By order of General Lee, W. H. Taylor, 

Acting Adjutant-General. 

Dear General: Accept through me the congratulations of the 
general commanding and the zvhole army. My best wishes in addition. 

Yours truly, Taylor. 

The General, with bowed head and hat in hand, in 
grateful acknowledgment of this delicate expression of 
the love of his comrades in coming to greet us, rode on 
past them and boarded the train just before it reached 
the station. As soon as he handed us off, his men sur- 
rounded us, eager to take a peep into the great bundle of 
swaddling-clothes which hid from view their "little gen- 
eral" as they then christened him. 

We were hurried into the carriage, too soon for some, at 
least, of the dear soldiers. One, whose name was Young, 
and who, as the General told me afterward, had been 
wounded in the battle of June 17, coming near losing 
his head, which was just missed by a ball, took George 
Junior, sans cerernonie, from my arms, and held him up to 
the welcoming gaze of his comrades. With many a word 
of love and blessing, our baby was passed on down the 
line from one to another. Tenderly, almost reverently, 
they touched him, our blessed baby, and many a tear was 
dropped on the pillow upon which his thoughtful black 
mammy, to ensure his safety, had carefully fastened him. 

Meanwhile, the young hero, in wise and dignified si- 
lence, with closed eyes and clenched fists, received the 
love and honors thrust upon him. He may have made 
faces, but not a sound did he utter as he passed on in this 
his first review. No; Pickett's baby gracefully left the 
rebel yell for Pickett's men to make. 



364 PICKETT AND HIS MEN, 

I am ashamed to confess it, but, notwithstanding the 
gentleness of the soldiers, baby's quiet, peaceful mien, 
and the General's continued assurance that he was all 
right, I, his very new and solicitous mother, suffered 
agonies of torture and anxiety until he was back again in 
my arms; and oh, dear, what a greasy, dirty, grimy little 
bundle it was when I did get it back. One would hardly 
have recognized the snow-white baby of a few minutes 
before. Nor was the soiled linen the only price the " little 
general" had to pay for honor and glory — there were 
other emoluments. Our poor army, for want of soap and 
clothes, had superior numbers of graybacks as well as 
bluecoats to fight, and this enemy put our young gen- 
eral through his first contest and, in spite of our raising 
the black flag, and of the combined heroic and immediate 
remedies of surgeon, mother, and nurse, it was many days 
before our wee, wee soldier recovered from the wounds 
received in his first battle. 

Our army at this time, numbering about forty to fifty 
thousand, was holding a line from a point north of Fort 
Harrison, on the north side of the James, to Hatcher's 
Creek, south of Petersburg, several miles in length, 
bounded on all sides by the Federal army. The Con- 
federates were in constant fear that Grant would at any 
moment swing around our right and shut us up in Rich- 
mond and Petersburg to starve. He had possession of 
the Weldon road and was threatening the Richmond and 
Danville Railroad, our only remaining line connecting us 
with the Southern States from which we received our 
supplies. 

The line from Howlett House, on the James River 
opposite Dutch Gap Canal, across to Swift Creek and Fort 
Clifton on the Appomattox, a distance of about three 
miles, was held by Pickett's division, which numbered 



THE BERMUDA HUNDRED LINES. 365 

between four and five thousand men. Our line was so 
drawn out when thrown into the trenches that it made 
scarcely more than a strong skirmish-line, while the Fed- 
eral lines were full. Pickett's men worked hard to make 
their position a strong one, and were always on the qui 
vive for an assault. 

At many points the Confederate and Federal lines 
were so close together that the soldiers of the two armies 
could talk to each other in an ordinary tone of voice, could 
exchange newspapers, tobacco for coffee, and so on. 

The venturesome Confederates frequently made cap- 
tives of the Federal pickets, once sweeping their line of 
rifle-pits for more than a hundred yards, and taking a 
hundred and thirty-six prisoners. On one occasion the 
leader of the Southern band had been promised some 
music-sheets in exchange for some Confederate bonds 
and, at the appointed time, went out midway between 
the lines for the proposed exchange. When they sepa- 
rated the Federal bandmaster handed to him a roll of 
paper. On regaining our lines he found the papers to be 
a proclamation of General B. F. Butler, offering to de- 
serters twenty dollars in cash, or employment in the com- 
missary or quartermaster's department of the army or 
navy, or transportation to their homes if within the Fed- 
eral lines. There was a promised reward for the judi- 
cious disposition of these papers, but the loyal band- 
master brought them to headquarters, where they were all 
destroyed except two, one of which I have. After this, 
strenuous efforts were made by the officers to break up all 
social intercourse. 

The chivalry and devotion of the soldiers of Pickett's 
division in the defense of their homes and firesides as an 
inherent, inalienable right had drawn them very near to 
each other. The humanity and kindliness of these sol- 



366 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

diers was a beautiful sermon. As a class, they were free 
from vice, immorality and quarreling. Card-playing, one 
of the sad dissipations of the first two years of the war, 
had disappeared. The religious spirit awakened in the 
division by Dr. Tyler at Taylorsville in 1863, when hun- 
dreds of the soldiers professed Christ, seemed still to 
prevail. 

Now and again in passing along in the rear of the tents 
the ragged, ill-fed Confederate would be seen on his 
knees, pouring out his soul to his blessed Saviour and 
invoking his blessing on our cause, and his protecting 
care for the loved ones at home. Our chaplains were as 
patriotic as they were zealous, many being wounded and 
killed in battle. The venerable General Pendleton, chief 
of artillery, who, at the first battle of Manassas, would 
say as he led his men on, "Lord, have mercy on their 
souls! Fire, men! Fire!" often prayed and preached for 
the division. Reverend J. Taylor Frazier organized a 
Young Men's Christian Association, and was one of the 
most earnest of the workers in the cause of Christianity. 
It was noticeable that whenever religious services were 
held almost every man off duty would be in attendance. 
Many of these soldiers who, I have heard, were wild, 
profane, and some of them dissipated, have since 
become ministers, and three, that I know of, are now 
bishops. 

They needed, too, poor fellows, all the comfort that 
religion could bring, for these were dark and trying days. 
Every turn of the wheel reduced the supplies and in- 
creased the demands of the waning Confederacy. The 
price of the necessaries of life had risen to such an enor- 
mous height that the soldier's pay of eleven dollars a 
month was not sufificient to buy a half-bushel of wheat. 
His rations were a fourth of a pound of bacon, one pint 



THE BERMUDA HUNDRED LINES. 367 

of corn-meal, unsifted, with now and then a bottle of sor- 
ghum, a few beans or peas, or a little rice; no sugar, 
coffee, or soap. 

It took sixty of our dollars to buy one dollar in gold. 
One pound of soda cost fourteen dollars; a loaf of bread, 
two dollars; unbleached cotton and calico, six dollars a 
yard; shoes, from one to three hundred dollars a pair. 
But the privations of camp-life and the dangers of the 
battle-field were nothing to the poor soldier in com- 
parison with the almost certain knowledge that his wife 
and children and mother were cold and hungry. What 
wonder is it, then, devoted though they were to their 
cause, that there should yet be some desertions from 
their ranks? The following incident will show what ex- 
cuse mercy, if not justice, might plead in their defense. 

One morning when my nurse returned from the de- 
serters' pen, where I had sent her with a bucket of sor- 
ghum cakes for its poor doomed occupants, she told me 
that the guard said that one of the men in the pen was 
from my home, and knew me, and that he had been beg- 
ging to be allowed to send me a letter. 

"Go back at once," I said, impulsively, "and tell the 
guard to get the letter and give it to you to bring to me." 

She soon returned, bringing a package tied up in a 
corn-husk. On the husk was written, "For the General's 
wife when I am dead." The package contained three let- 
ters, a little sealed box, and two rings carved out of 
charcoal. A slip of paper on one said, "For Pa's little 
lady"; on the other, " For Pa's little man; and he mustn't 
forget his Pa; and he must be a good boy, and look after 
his Ma." The box and letters were directed to his mother 
and wife. The unsealed letter was written on both sides 
of the paper. One side was written to me. On the other 
side was a letter from his wife, as follows: 



368 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

B N , Dec. 17, 1864. 

My Dear B : Christmus is most hear again, and things is worse 

and worse. I have got my last kalica frock on, and that's patched. 
Everything me and children's got is patched. Both of them is in bed 
now covered up with comforters and old pieces of karpet to keep them 
warm, while I went 'long out to try and get some wood, for their feet's 
on the ground and they have got no clothes, neither; and I am not able 
to cut the wood, and me and the children have broke up all the rails 
'roun' the yard and picked up all the chips there is. We haven't got 
nothing in the house to eat but a little bit o ' meal. The last pound of meet 

you got from T.Ir. G is all eat up, and so is the chickens we raised. 

I don't want you to stop fighten them yankees till you kill the last one 
of them, but try and get off and come home and fix us all up some and 
then you can go back and fight them a heep harder than you ever fought 
them before. We can't none of us hold out much longer down hear. 
One of General Mahone's skouts promis me on his word to carry this 
letter through the lines to you, but, my dear, if you put off a-comin' 
'twon't be no use to come, for we'll all hands of us be out there in the 
garden in the old graveyard with your ma and mine. 



The letter to me said: 

When I got this letter on the back hear from you see how 

'twas. I knowed they want a-givin' no furloughs, but I knowed, too, that 

whether they was or no, I was a-goin' home to look after , but 

I wanted to go strait if I could, so I went up to headquarters, and I saw 
the General hisself. He said he didn't have no power to do nothin' 
hisself, that his orders were strick, but that he would give it a strong 
indorse and send it up. I couldn't hardly wait till the next day, but I 
kep' a-sayin' to myself, "Go strait, Billy, go strait if you can; but if you 
can't go strait, Billy, by golly, go anyhow"; an' when it come back re- 
fused, I says to 'em all, "I'm a-goin ', " an ' then I went back and told my 

captin I was a-goin', for would never have written a letter like 

that unless she was mighty bad off; and I went. I got home all right 
and seed after them. If I had 'a' staid down thar I would 'a' been a de- 
serter; but I didn't stay — no, I come back, and I ain't one. Seems like 
luck was against me, though, for just as I was nigh onto a half-mile of 

camp that old G p arrested me and I was found guilty, and am in the 

next passel that's got to be took out. When the thing is all done and 
over I want you, please, marm, to write to the folkes and sorter smooth 



THE BERMUDA HUNDRED LINES, 3^9 

it down 'bout how it all happened to be. They all remembers you and 
always asks after you. They sets a heep of store by me, and I don t 

want them to think nothin' bad of me, and then mought blame 

herself some if she knowed; so please, marm, kiver it all over. Kiverin' 
it won't hurt nothin' and it mought ease things a bit. I know all your 
folkes and I went to school to your Uncle Jasper close onto a year. 
I knowed your brother Tom before he died, and he want afeered of 
nothin' on earth; he'd pull off his coat and roll up his sleeves and fight 
aelefant if theelefant had 'a' been a-tryin' to impose on him or anybody 
else littler than him. Well, this is the end of the paper, and when 
you get this t'will be the end of me, too. God bless you, God in heaven 
bless you — double times. Please, marm, don't let none of them 
down home lose store by me if you can helf it. Please, marm, and 
that is all. 



Thus on the cold and cheerless hearth of the lowly 
cabin burned the fires of patriotic ardor, and the poor^ 
unlettered soldier, having to the best of his small abil- 
ity ministered to the wants of his suffering family, had 
voluntarily returned to his duty under his flag, regard- 
less of the danger of meeting a deserter's unhonored 
death. 

I went into the next room where the General and 
Colonel Harrison were working over a map, and handed 
the letter to the General. As he read it his great, 
glorious, gray eyes filled with tears. Scolding me 
for what I had done, he gave the letter to Colonel 
Harrison. 

"Well," said the Colonel, as he returned the letter, 
"there is nothing to be done about it, dear lady. These 
miserable wretches have got to be shot in the morning, 
and all your pretty play — is pretty play. They have been 
tried by court martial, their sentence approved, and the 
General has nothing on earth to do with it, and can't help 
it. You and Lady H. not only look very much alike, 
but you are very much alike" 



370 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

"Discipline and the exigencies of the service demand 
a rigid enforcement of military laws," said the General, 

I knew my General's great, generous heart, and I knew 
that those men would not be shot. The next morning 
before sunrise the execution of the sentence was post- 
poned. Three days afterward an order came from Rich- 
mond reprieving all deserters. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

THE PEACE COMMISSION.— THE LAST REVIEW OF PICKETT'S 

DIVISION. 

In Spite of the darkening gloom, the fall of Fort Fisher, 
the evacuation of Tennessee by Hood's army, Sherman's 
march to Charleston, danger, starvation and cold, Pick- 
ett's men were hopeful and full of faith. 

All through the winter the men had been in the 
trenches and the ofificers alert to prevent surprise. They 
had small huts to shelter them from the beating storm. 
To add to their discomfort fuel was very scarce and dif- 
ficult to secure. They were dependent upon a small belt 
of timber between their own and the Federal skirmish- 
line. It was necessary that a guard should accompany 
the party procuring the wood, in order to ward off sur- 
prise. 

Notwithstanding all precautions, many were captured. 
One of the pluckiest and most venturous of the wood- 
gatherers, Adam Thompson, the mascot of the division, 
became so absorbed that before he knew it he was taken 
prisoner. Such an immense man was Mr. Adam, with 
such an enormous foot, that special orders had to be given 
to the quartermaster for his shoes and clothes. In an- 
nouncing this capture, the Federals said: "One milk- 
white prisoner, three and a half feet across the back, legs 
in proportion, and each foot encased in a side of sole 
leather." Later on, when exchanging some prisoners cap- 
tured in the rifle-pits, the Federals demanded four of their 
men for our Mr. Adam, to which demand we gladly acceded. 

371 



372 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The last of January the peace commissioners ap- 
pointed by the Confederate government to meet the 
representatives of the Federal government passed 
through the lines and went down the James River. 
The whole army was full of hope that an amicable 
adjustment would be made. Alas! 

Our commissioners were Vice-President Stephens, As- 
sistant Secretary of War Campbell, and R. M= T. Hunter, 
Confederate Senator for Virginia. They were instructed 
to meet any representative whom President Lincoln 
should select, with the purpose of treating for peace be- 
tween the "two countries." Lincoln had consented to the 
meeting to discuss measures of restoring peace to "our 
common country." This discrepancy had not a tendency 
to pave the way to a satisfactory conference. 

Lincoln appointed Seward to meet the representatives 
of the Confederate government, and in his letter of in- 
structions said: 

You will make known to them that three things are indispensable, to 
wit : I. The restoration of the national authority throughout the States. 
2. No receding by the Executive of the United States on the slavery 
question from the position assumed thereon in the late annual message 
to Congress and in preceding documents. 3. No cessation of hostilities 
short of an end of the war and the disbanding of all forces hostile to the 
government. You will inform them that all propositions of theirs, not 
inconsistent with the above, will be considered and passed upon in a 
spirit of sincere liberality. You will hear all that they may choose to 
say and report it to me. You will not assume to definitely consummate 
anything. 

As the first meeting of Seward with the Confederate 
commissioners was not successful, Lincoln was induced 
by Grant to go in person to meet the Southern representa- 
tives. 

Mr. Stephens set forth the theory that secession was 



THE PEACE COMMISSION— THE LAST REVIEW. 373 

the best remedy for sectional differences. As this view 
was not favorably received, he suggested a union for the 
purpose of expelling the French from Mexico. Lincoln 
and Seward agreed with him as to the undesirability of 
the new Gallic neighbors, but thought the United States 
government able to drive them away. Mr. Lincoln would 
treat only on the basis of reunion and the abolition of 
slavery. Mr. Hunter's report contains the following: 

Mr. Lincoln said that a politician on his side had declared that four 
million dollars ought to be given by way ol compensation to the slave- 
holders, and in this opinion he expressed his concurrence. Mr. Seward 
was impatient and walked across the floor and said that he thought the 
United States had done enough in expending so much money on the war, 
and had suffered enough in enduring the losses incident to carrying on 
the war. Mr. Lincoln said that if it was wrong in the South to hold 
slaves it was wrong in the North to carry on the slave-trade and sell 
them to the South and to hold on to the money thus procured if the 
slaves were to be taken by them again. Mr. Lincoln said, however, that 
he was not authorized to make such a proposition, nor did he make it. 

The President said he could not treat with armed men. 
Hunter answered that this had often been done, especially 
by Charles L when at war with his Parliament. Lincoln 
replied that he did not know much about history; that he 
usually left that kind of thing to Seward. All that he dis- 
tinctly recalled about Charles L was that he lost his head. 

Of this conference, which took place February 3, 1865, 
on board the River Queen, Lincoln thus made report to 
Congress: 

On the morning of the 3d, the three gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens, 
Hunter and Campbell, came aboard of our steamer and had an interview 
with the Secretary of State and myself, of several hours duration. No 
question preliminary to the meeting was then and there made or men- 
tioned. No other person was present. No papers were exchanged or pro- 
duced; it was in advance agreed that the conversation was to be informal 



374 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

and verbal merely. On our part the whole substance of the instructions 
to the Secretary of State hereinbefore recited was stated and insisted 
upon and nothing was said inconsistent therewith; while by the other 
party it was not said in any event or in any condition they ever would 
consent to reunion; and yet they equally omitted to declare that they 
never would so consent. They seemed to desire a postponement of that 
question and the adoption of some other course first, which, as some of 
them seemed to argue, might or might not lead to reunion; but which 
course we thought would amount to an indefinite postponement. The 
conference ended without result. 

The news of the unsuccessful termination of the peace 
commission soon spread through the whole army, and 
hope died in all hearts. Anxious faces indicated the deep 
sorrow with which the failure of the conference was re- 
garded. It was possible that the leaders might know of 
a prospect of foreign intervention of which the army was 
ignorant. Unless this was true, nothing was left but to 
fight it out to the bitter end. 

After the failure of the peace commission was known 
there was held in General Pickett's tent a consultation of 
the ofKicers of his division. As they talked, their words 
drifted out to me. Said one: 

"We must hush all hope of peace in our hearts with 
the cry of, ' War to the knife! ' All skulkers and absentees 
must be driven into the army. I believe the Yankees are 
as tired of war as we are." 

Another suggested: "Why not free the negroes? They 
would be as loyal to us if we freed them as to our enemies, 
who can give them certainly no more than we can, unless it is 
better rations and pay, but their love for us and the confi- 
dence they have in us will more than counterbalance that." 

"Certainly," responded another, " they are no dearer 
than our own sons. We are willing to sacrifice our sons, 
our fathers, and ourselves; why not our property? Is our 
property dearer than our own lives?" 



THE PEA CE COMMISSION. — THE LAST RE VIE W. 375 

Another said: "I believe the great bulk of the army* 
is ready to make any sacrifice for our separate existence 
as a people and the cause of liberty. As our forefathers 
resisted British tyranny, we must resist Northern oppres- 
sion." 

Said another: "Our object is, not the negro, but in- 
dependence and a separate government, for which I am 
willing to abolish slavery and give up any and every thing 
else." 

"With such patriotism — such valiant soldiery," said 
the General, "our independence shall be accomplished. 
The North is turning the Southern negro into Northern 
bonds, and I, too, believe that the majority of the army 
want to free the negro and make him help us to work. I 
know that the majority of Pickett's men favor it. We 
shall lose everything else if we attempt to preserve and 
perpetuate slavery, and in the end, of course, lose that. 
It should have been done in 1863." 

"Well, at any rate," it was agreed, "the last hope of 
peace, save that which follows in the tread of the con- 
queror, is over for the South." 

The last winter of the Confederacy had been one of 
privation, hardship and painful anxiety. The end was 
drawing near. The March winds and gusts of the pre- 
vious days had lulled themselves to sleep, and March had 
borrowed from her sister month one of her softest, most 
beautiful days for this the last review, on this side of the 
dark waters, of the grand old Virginia division of Pickett's 
men. I was on horseback beside the General, proudly 
witnessing this last review of his beloved command. The 
order to march was handed to the General just after the 
first brigade had passed on. 

When the last man had passed in review, and the last 
salute had been given and acknowledged, the order to 



376 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

march was read and published. There was not a man in 
the whole division who did not feel the hopelessness of 
prolonging this strife, who did not know that it was then 
but a mere calculation of the few days and weeks which 
would elapse until the end. Yet, without a complaint, 
these brave men received marching orders. 

Sheridan, the untiring and unconquerable, with his 
ten thousand cavalry, had routed Early at Waynesboro 
and dispersed his little band of three thousand men, and 
was on his way to Richmond, it was reported, via Char- 
lottesville, from the North, and the command was moving 
up to Richmond and to the outer line of intrenchments 
north of the city. Pickett was to go and look after him. 

We should take away with us many sacred memories 
of our eventful camp life. The years of common suffer- 
ing, of sharing each other's pleasures and bearing each 
other's woes, had bound us all together by the most sacred 
and loyal of ties, till "comrade" seemed to me a closer, 
truer tie than "brother." The camp was broken. The 
last review of Pickett's division was over. Our baby, the 
"little general," with hearty blessings, had been sent on 
ahead with his faithful mammy two hours in advance of 
my departure. 

I was waiting, ready to start. I had listened to the 
tramp of regiment after regiment as they in turn folded 
their tents and marched away. The drums of the rear- 
guard were growing fainter and fainter in the distance, as 
we caught sight of Lucy with her silken coat and limpid 
eyes full of tenderness and fire, and her slim, clean legs 
and small, unerring feet, as she skimmed over the field 
with blood as blue as that of her matchless rider. Tom 
Friend, one of the General's couriers, was riding behind 
him. They were coming back from the front for me. 
Bob promptly brought up my horse which was saddled 



THE PEA CE COMMISSION. — THE LAST RE VIE W. 377 

and waiting. I mounted and galloped forward to meet 
the General. As we rode slowly away he looked thought- 
fully and sadly around him and sighed a farewell to tent 
and camp of Howlett House, Chester and the lines of 
breastworks. This position, important as the main line 
of defense between Richmond and Petersburg, and oppos- 
ing any advance by the Federals, he had occupied since 
the i6th of May, 1864. 

Through the soft lights and shades and the perfumed 
breath of the dawn of the year, we rode away from our 
first and last camp, and on together to the old Pickett 
home in Richmond, where the General was to leave me 
and rejoin his division. He said good-by, and as we 
knelt beside our baby's cradle we placed each other in 
God's holy keeping. 

"Take care of mamma, my little man, if papa should 
not come back. I leave her to you, my dear, dear little 
namesake son. Ask mamma to tell you what papa says, 
and if— there, there," he said cheerily; "I must go now. 
Smiles — come, smiles — give me smiles; no tears, mind," 
and he went out of the door and down the steps, two at a 
time, whistling "The Girl I Left Behind Me." 

A little while later I heard the drums beating, and 
baby's nurse rushed in to say: 

" Dem sojer troops an' drums you yeahs a-comin' is 
ourn. Yas'm, dey is; dey is we all's derwision-troops, an' 
hit certainly is scand'lus de way dey is a-playin' music an' 
gwine on, an' de folks — de folks, dey is bad ez de sojers, fer 
dey is hoUerin' an' cheerin' an' waffin' dar hank'chers an' 
apuns an' hats at 'em, jis' lak dey wuz gwine ter a darncin'- 
party, bestid er gwine ter dar def-warrants, lak dey is. 
'Deed an' 'deed, hit's turrible— 'deed, 'tis. Dey ought ter 
be singin' hymns an' prayin' an' sayin' 'amen, Lord — ■ 
amen!' 'Deed, dey ought." 



378 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

I brushed away my tears, caught up my baby, who had 
just awakened, snatched from the nurse's hand the bunch 
of white violets which she said she had "jes' bruck fum 
off'n dem li'le low-growin' bushes what dey sed Marse 
Gawge's ma had plant de year 'fo' she tuck sick an' die," 
and ran down the steps to the gate. 

The division halted as it drew near. When its leader 
came to say good-by I closed baby's hands over the 
cluster of white violets and held it out to him. He carried 
the snowy blossoms away with him, as the division 
marched forward shouting, "Three cheers for the little 
general and his mother!" 

Ten years later, brown and withered with time, the 
tiny cluster of violets went down to the grave with all 
that was mortal of the soldier who carried them in their 
sweet perfume and snowy bloom at the head of his brave 
division. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

ON TO DINWIDDIE COURT-HOUSE. 

It is a heartaching service to record the gathering 
gloom of the last days of the Confederacy, when the 
noblest blood of the Southland stained the mother clay 
as her sons uselessly gave up their lives, gun in hand and 
faces forward, where their officers led, the officers feeling, 
as they gave the order, how vain, alas! it all was. To us 
who lived through the darkness of those days there is 
yet a black shadow falling around us like the memory 
of an awful dream. 

Poor Confederacy! She had nothing to oppose to the 
affluence of resources possessed by the enemy save the 
unconquerable gallantry of her children, who fought 
against such odds as had never before stood in the way 
of freedom. 

When Pickett received and obeyed the telegram from 
Lee, ordering him to move to the right of Petersburg, he 
knew, and his men knew, that it was a forlorn hope. 

No cheek blanched, no muscle quivered, as the order 
was read. There was no weakening of their proud res- 
olution to fight the battle for principle through sacrifice, 
however vain, to the end. 

As I humbly, reverently, record these last days, I lov- 
ingly lay the immortal laurel of gratitude, prayer, love 
and tears entwined on — 

"The sacred grave 
Of these last men who, vainly brave, 
Died for the land they could not save." 

379 



380 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Pickett received the order from Lee on the 29th day 
of March, 1865, at Swift's Creek, where he, with two of his 
brigades. Corse's and Terry's, were bivouacked. Stuart's 
brigade was west of Petersburg, and was ordered to join 
Pickett en route. Hunton's brigade, the brave old com- 
mand at the head of which Garnett met his glorious death 
on the field of Gettysburg, was with Longstreet on the 
north of the James River. 

The entire division had been ordered to march, but it 
was found that there was transportation for only three 
brigades. In order to secure a whole division, Longstreet 
suggested drawing Mahone from Bermuda Hundred and 
allowing Pickett to replace him, but Lee preferred a part 
of Pickett's division, and ordered the three brigades for- 
ward. 

Pickett, in carrying out the order of Lee, endeavored 
to make the movement as stealthily as possible, though he 
knew it was impossible to conceal entirely from the 
knowledge of the Federals the action of Stuart's brigade 
near Petersburg, it being in the range of vision from the 
Federal lookout-stations. 

Pickett, with the brigades of Corse, Terry and Stuart 
was to cross the Appomattox River, passing Petersburg, 
where they were to take the cars by the South-side Rail- 
road to Sutherland's Station, ten miles west of Peters- 
burg, and to move thence to Sutherland's Tavern on the 
railroad. Fitz Lee's cavalry had already preceded the in- 
fantry to the tavern, and he had from that point com- 
municated with Pickett who, \yith the three brigades, 
reached the station a little after nine o'clock in the 
evening. 

At ten o'clock the same night (the 29th), R. H. An- 
derson sent an order to Pickett to come on with his three 
brigades by a cross-road to the White Oak road, over 



ON TO DINWIDDIE COURT-HOUSE. 38 1 

Hatcher's Run, and take a position to the right of Bush- 
rod Johnson's division, at the extreme right of the Con- 
federate line. 

The roads and streams were almost impassable, but 
Pickett's indefatigable men without a murmur moved on 
through the drenching rain, over the muddy roads, ford- 
ing streams and gullies. 

Pickett, with his soldierly mien, led them on, ever and 
anon appearing among them, his genial, sunny smile help- 
ing many a jaded infantryman to step out with a brighter 
face and a firmer tread, as he would pass on, whistling 
with his inimitable, beautiful whistle, "Dixie," "The Bon- 
nie Blue Flag," "Maryland," "Annie Laurie," "The Girl 
I Left Behind Me," or some other familiar air equally 
dear to the soldier's heart. Or, with a word of good 
cheer, he would wave his cap and go on, leaving the air 
behind him radiant with sympathy and affection. 

The presence of the born leader of soldiers is as strong 
and uplifting in arduous and wearisome marches as it is 
inspiring in battle. 

About daybreak of the 30th, with the rain still pouring, 
Pickett with his command arrived upon the White Oak 
road between Dinwiddle Court-house and Five Forks, the 
brigades extending for some distance up the road. 

At about ten o'clock of the morning of the same day 
General Lee came up to the right of the Confederate line 
and held a consultation with his chiefs. During this 
council a prisoner was brought into camp. He was a cap- 
tain in Sheridan's cavalry, and was captured near Five 
Forks. Upon the examination of this officer, he let out 
the information that the whole Federal cavalry, more than 
fifteen thousand strong, supported by a heavy infantry 
force, was at or near Dinwiddie Court-house. 

Lee did not give much credence to the statements 



382 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

of the Federal captain, nor did Heth, who was one of the 
chiefs mentioned as being in consultation with him, but 
just about this time a message came from Fitz Lee, stat- 
ing that the enemy's cavalry were in great force at Five 
Forks, and had driven in all of his pickets. 

Upon this information, Lee at once sent orders to Fitz 
Lee to take command of the whole cavalry, his own divi- 
sion, the division of W. H. F. Lee, and a part of Rosser's 
division, and make an attack upon the cavalry force at 
Five Forks. 

At n*oon on the same day Lee ordered Pickett to move 
on to Five Forks with his small force of artillery and in- 
fantry, consisting of his own three brigades. Matt Ran- 
som's and Wallace's brigades (both together not equal to 
a full brigade), and six rifled pieces of artillery under 
Colonel Pegram, and take command of the whole force. 

The main object of the attack was to break the Federal 
left. The proposed plan to further that end was that Pick- 
ett should press down upon Dinwiddie Court-house, and as 
far down upon the front as possible, and that R. H. Ander- 
son should at the same time make an attack in front. 

The Federal cavalry was in strong force between the 
right of the Confederate line and Five Forks, and Pick- 
ett's men, being compelled to drive the Federals out of 
their way the entire distance, the skirmishing in their 
front and flank being continuous, they could not of course 
make much of a record as to speed. 

After eighteen hours of continuous marching through 
the discomforts of rain, slush and hunger, and the dan- 
gers of shot, shell and saber, Pickett reached Five Forks, 
There had already been a sharp skirmish at this point be- 
tween the two cavalry forces. Immediately on Pickett's 
arrival he threw out two regiments of infantry, and the 
Federal cavalry was soon driven in. 



ON TO DINWIDDIE COURT-HOUSE. 383 

It was Pickett's intention to push on to Dinwiddie 
Court-house, but, after consultation with Fitz Lee, the 
other cavalry not as yet having joined him, the night be- 
ing dark and rainy, and his own men tired and worn out, 
it was decided that he should stop. 

In order to keep the Federals at a respectful distance 
during the night, Pickett threw out two of his brigades on 
the Court-house road. Corse and Terry advanced almost 
a mile, driving the Federal cavalry before them; though, be- 
ing dismounted and armed with the repeating rifle, the 
troopers made a vigorous fight. The strength of the 
enemy was beyond conjecture. 

On the morning of the 31st, Lee led McGowan's, 
Gracie's, Hunton's and Wise's brigades against the Fed- 
eral Fifth Corps, commanded by Warren, which was posted 
between Pickett's command and the Confederate forti- 
fications. Warren was driven back behind Gravelly Run. 

Pickett placed W. H. F. Lee's and Rosser's cavalry 
on the right, followed by the infantry and artillery. Fitz 
Lee's division, commanded by Thomas T. Mumford, was 
at the left. W. H. F. Lee's cavalry preceded the infantry 
column on the. direct road to a crossing at Chamberlayne's 
Creek, and Mumford moved by an immediate road in the 
same direction. 

At the fork of Chamberlayne's Creek, W. H. F. Lee 
made one of the most brilliant and severe cavalry fights of 
the war, forcing a crossing immediately in face of a superior 
force of the Federal troops, who had all the advantages of 
position, with a stream of water in front. The infantry 
were unable to cross at this point, and sought a passage 
lower down, Terry's brigade leading. It suffered serious 
loss in the passage, though it made a brilliant dash across 
the creek and killed and captured about a hundred of the 
enemy, driving their forces back to Dinwiddie Court-house. 



384 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

The loss of the Confederates was chiefly confined to 
W. H. F. Lee's cavalry and Terry's and Corse's brigades. 
Many valuable ofificers were killed. 

Although the Fifth Corps had suffered great loss, it 
rallied and charged against Lee's brigades, but was again 
forced back to White Oak road and then to the fortifica- 
tions. 

The darkness of night fell over the Confederates with- 
in but half a mile of Dinwiddie Court-house. Had some 
good Southern Joshua been there to stop the sun in its 
course for even one little half-hour the court-house would 
have been ours. 

The Federals were being strongly reinforced with in- 
fantry. Grant, in response to Sheridan's request, having 
ordered up the Fifth Corps under Warren, numbering 
fifteen thousand. The whole of Sheridan's and Kautz's 
cavalry were in front, MacKenzie's division, sixteen thou- 
sand strong, having been sent forward. 

When the battle was over Pickett sent a courier to Lee, 
who was on the lines at Petersburg, telling him of the suc- 
cess of the day, but stating that he had just ascertained, 
through his scouts, the certainty of the heavy infantry 
support to Sheridan's cavalry at Dinwiddie Court-house, 
and that he had no option but to withdraw with his small 
force. This he proposed to do under cover of the night. 
Further assurance of the truth of this report proved to 
Pickett that his decision was a judicious one. He ac- 
cordingly left the front of Dinwiddie Court-house at two 
o'clock on the morning of the ist day of April, and 
started back toward Five Forks. 

Thus ended another scene in the fifth act of the tragedy 
on which the dark curtain was so soon to fall. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

FIVE FORKS. 

For nearly two years after the fatal battle of Gettys- 
burg the war had drawn its slow length along with vary- 
ing fortunes, and now the end had almost come. Im- 
penetrable gloom had closed around the Confederacy, and 
its shadow fell heavily over those who for four years had 
so heroically borne the heartbreak of ineffectual struggle. 

In February, 1865, President Davis relinquished his 
military authority, and General R. E. Lee became gen- 
eral-in-chief of the Confederate armies. All communi- 
cation with foreign powers was closed, and no more hope 
of assistance remained. 

Lee's object was to reach the mountainous regions of 
Virginia and North Carolina and join Johnston's forces, 
while Grant's policy was to prevent the juncture. 

On the last of March Lee's army of less than forty 
thousand was stretched until its extreme right rested on 
Five Forks, fifteen miles southwest of Petersburg, a situ- 
ation which justified Lee's reflection on the 2d of April, 
when the line had been penetrated by the Federal Sixth 
Corps, and the gallant A. P. Hill lay dead on the field near 
Petersburg: "It has happened as I told them at Rich- 
mond it would happen. The line has been stretched until 
it has broken." 

During the long struggle of the South for nationality, 
no more desperate and heroic action occurred than took 
place at Five Forks on April i, 1865. 

When Federal reinforcements were sent to Sheridan 

25 385 



386 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

at Dinwiddie Court-house the intention of Grant was that 
the Fifth Corps, fifteen thousand strong, should attack 
Pickett's left and cut off retreat. 

Grant was general-in-chief of the United States Army, 
and his power was exceedingly great, but he could not 
control the elements. The rain fell heavily on the night 
of the 31st, and the Fifth Corps, toiling over the difficult 
road, found no enemy awaiting it at the end of its weari- 
some journey. 

Pickett, having notice of the projected attack, changed 
his orders for battle, and withdrew to Five Forks, which he 
reached early in the morning of April i, followed by Sheri- 
dan's troops. The movement was made in perfect order 
and as discreetly and quietly as possible. The)^ b'rought 
all their wounded off the field and buried all their dead. 

After a fatiguing march over roads and streams almost 
impassable because of the heavy rains. Five Forks was 
reached, where, having a few hours the start of Sheridan, 
Pickett halted to rest, but almost immediately upon his 
arrival he received a message from Lee, in response to one 
sent by Pickett the preceding day, saying: 

Hold Five Forks at all hazards. Protect road to Ford's Depot 
and prevent Union forces from striking the South-side Railroad. Re- 
gret exceedingly your forced withdrawal, and your inability to hold the 
advantage you had gained. R. E. Lee 

Five Forks, the point which Lee ordered Pickett to 
"hold at all hazards," is simply a crossing at right angles 
of two country roads and the deflecting of a third road 
bisecting one of these angles. It is situated in a low, flat 
country, and has no natural points of defense. Its only 
fortification was a hastily constructed breastwork. 

The place was absolutely not capable of being pro- 
tected except by a very large body of troops, and the 



FIVE FORKS. 387 

small force directed to hold it could easily have been 
turned on the right or left and isolated from the main 
army at Petersburg, It was, therefore, a most unfortu- 
nate selection of a field on which to meet a superior force, 
and yet six thousand men — infantry, cavalry and artillery, 
all told — were stationed here to hold the ground against 
an attack by thirty-five thousand troops, supported by 
heavy artillery. The task was impossible of achievement, 
but the effort was, nevertheless, most bravely made. 

Where nature supports a small force of men the com- 
bination may prove invincible, even to an army much su- 
perior in numbers. She throws up impregnable defenses, 
erects stone walls and creates caves of darkness for the 
protection of her chosen few. On a straight, wide plain 
nature stands aside and views the antagonists with im- 
partial eye, while Mars radiantly smiles upon the largest 
army and the heaviest guns. 

Pickett had all his trains parked in rear of Hatcher's 
Run, and would have greatly preferred to hold his posi- 
tion at that point. He inferred, however, from Lee's 
selection of Five Forks and his positive order to hold it 
"at all hazards," that he, of course, intended to send to 
him at once a strong reinforcement. 

Immediately, therefore, upon the receipt of Lee's per- 
emptory order to "hold Five Forks" Pickett formed his 
line of battle on the White Oak road, at right angles and 
across the Ford road which intersects the South-side 
Railroad, and set his men to throwing up breastworks. 
They dug a ditch, felled pine-trees, and threw the 
earth up behind the felled logs, and though they knew 
the holding of Five Forks would be hazardous, cheerfully 
worked and waited. It was nine o'clock on Saturday 
morning, when the line was formed. The number and 
disposition of the Confederate force was as follows: 



388 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Matt Ransom's and Wallace's brigades, acting as one, 
and, combined, not numbering over eight hundred men, 
were on the left. Stuart's brigade, amounting to about one 
thousand, was next on the right, and extended to the forks 
of the roads. Then came Corse's brigade, one thousand 
strong, and then Terry's, eight hundred strong, support- 
ing Corse's on the right of the line. The six rifled pieces 
of artillery were placed along the line at wide intervals. 

Fitz Lee's cavalry was ordered into position on the left 
flank; W. H. F. Lee's on the right flank; McCausland's 
and Bearing's cavalry were all of Rosser's division that 
were present, though they did fine service. The cavalry 
numbered in all about twenty-five hundred men. Thus 
cavalry, infantry and artillery amounted to not over six 
thousand men, to meet Sheridan's cavalry, numbering in 
itself more than five times that of Pickett's whole com- 
mand. In addition to Sheridan's own force, he was sup- 
ported by Warren's infantry corps. 

As soon as the Confederates were in position they be- 
gan cutting down trees, piling up logs, digging trenches 
and erecting obstructions. Their work was interrupted 
only when they were compelled to seize their guns to re- 
pel an attack. Three times the labor was thus suspended, 
the Federals having begun the attack upon the front as 
soon as the line was formed. Having repelled the foe, 
they would immediately return to their work, which they 
enlivened by singing "My Maryland," "Dixie," and 
"Bonnie Blue Flag." 

The hurried work of three hours of these hungry, 
march-fatigued veterans, a shallow ditch, a few loose, dirt- 
covered pine logs were their only line of breastworks, and 
yet these devoted men were ready to " do or die." 

About two o'clock in the afternoon, a general advance 
and attack began along the whole front and on the right 



FIVE FORKS. 389 

flank, which was quickly repulsed with considerable loss 
to the enemy. Pickett had a short time before ridden to 
the north side of Hatcher's Run and, hearing the sound 
of battle, he galloped through a rain of fire and balls from 
Crawford's troops on the Ford road. 

Soon after he reached his command Colonel Pegram 
of the artillery was mortally wounded, and fell near where 
the General was standing reforming his line. Pegram 
was shot from his horse by a sharpshooter just after the 
charge had been repulsed, and fell in rear of two of his 

guns. 

A few minutes after this attack a terrific fire of mus- 
ketry to the left and rear was heard. The apprehension 
of Pickett's troops that the left wing had been turned and 
doubled back and that they would be taken in reverse 
proved unhappily true. Warren's corps had swept around 
to the left flank, while Sheridan's cavalry, mounted and 
dismounted, was engaging the front and right. Warren 
forced Ransom and Wallace back and doubled them on 
Stuart's brigade of Pickett's division. 

Hunton's brigade was withdrawn from the front, 
moved double-quick to the left and thrown forward to 
meet the attacking column, Pickett leading, cheering on 
the men, waving the Confederate battle-flag. He dashed 
up to Colonel Floweree, whose regiment was on the left. 
Informing him of the situation of affairs, he said: 

"I depend upon your regiment to save the day. You 
will have to grapple with twice your number, but I know 
I can depend upon you." 

Colonel Floweree, was a fearless, gallant, determined 
soldier, and a jovial, jolly fellow. 

"I shall follow the moon, Marse George [meaning 
he should go westward], and we'll save the day, if our 
last man has to bite his daddy's dust. Youp boys are all 



390 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

too gallant and deferential to bite the dust of their mamrwy, 
you know, Marse George." 

The General smiled and rode on. He crossed the 
road to higher ground within forty paces of where the 
enemy's columns were massed, whence came showers 
of bullets falling around him, but his life seemed a 
charmed one. 

The men were dropping at every volley, and the order 
to retreat was repeated three times, but his "boys" re- 
fused to move till their General should come, and then 
they retreated at double-quick and in good order. 

"Follow the moon!" called out Colonel Floweree. 

Death or prison was their choice. Many chose the 
former. Pickett, Terry, Corse, Stuart and Ransom were 
across the road calling on the men to get into line to meet 
the next onslaught. 

A part of the famous Glee Club, with Gentry leading, 
were singing, " Rally 'round the flag, boys, rally once 
again." Near them was the ensign of the First Virginia 
Regiment with his colors and guard, cheering and sing- 
ing. As they sang Pickett rode up, still waving the 
battle-flag which he had taken from the hand of a fallen 
color-bearer, and his deep voice joined with theirs in the 
rallying-song. 

There were very few to rally around that battle-flag, 
stained crimson with the noblest blood of the South, 
sacred to a cause for which many a brave man had died, 
and many another had offered his life, willing to fall 
rather than see that banner suffer dishonor. Very few 
they were, compared with the host arrayed against them, 
but their voices rang out boldly and the notes of their 
battle-song echoed and re-echoed from the forest. 

At this time the Confederates were just four hundred 
yards in rear of Five Forks, and though the Federals had 



FIVE FORKS. 391 

captured many prisoners, principally from Ransom's, WaU 
lace's and Stuart's brigades, they had gained but little 
ground. Pegram's men stood with their horses, ready to 
return to their guns as soon as the opportunity should 
present. 

The Federals charged upon the front and right, straight 
through the open field to the woods in which the Confed- 
erate line was formed. A heavy force was thrown around 
the right and left, the Federal cavalry poured down on the 
right and rear. Pickett's men were entrapped, held as in 
a vise by the cavalry, with a line of infantry in the rear, 
a deadly fire from all sides. 

They formed in front, north and south, and met with 
desperate valor this double onset. Cut to pieces, de- 
feated, captured, all that were left of them still pressed 
on in sullen determination. 

The closest fighting of the war was done here. So near 
together were the opponents that they clubbed each other 
with their muskets. Again and again the heroic little 
band rallied "'round the flag," fighting on this ground, 
unknown to them, until darkness fell so heavily that they 
knew not friend from foe. 

Never were troops more hardly pressed, never did 
troops fight more gallantly. Surrounded by a force which 
outnumbered them more than five to one, with no de- 
fenses, no fortifications, starving, famishing, they simply 
yielded to overwhelming numbers and could have been cap- 
tured by Warren and Sheridan any timeafter two o'clock in 
the afternoon. They would probably all have been de- 
stroyed on the retreat but for the brave stand of Corse's 
brigade and the gallantry of W. H. F. Lee's cavalry, who 
held the Federal troopers until the woodland was reached. 

As the General rode off the field he saw a band of sol- 
diers who had paused and seemed to be drawing toward 



392 PICKETT AND HIS MEM. 

themselves the fire of the enemy. He did not know why 
they did this. He learned later that the devoted little 
group were offering their lives to save him. 

There were but few to leave the field. The many 
stayed behind, lying in heaped-up masses on that ground 
which they had so heroically defended. Night reverently 
covered them with her dark shroud and her tears fell 
softly on their still, white faces. The stars crept out one 
by one in the deep, wide waste of sky and kept solemn 
vigil over the dead. 

General Longstreet says: 

The position was not of General Pickett's choosing, but of his 
orders; and from his orders he assumed that he would be reinforced. 
His execution was all that a skilful commander could apply. He re- 
ported as to his position and the movements of the enemy threatening to 
cut off his command from the army, but no force came to guard his right. 
The reinforcements joined him after night, when his battle had been 
lost and his command disorganized. The cavalry of his left was in neg- 
lect in failing to report the advance of the enemy, but that was not for 
want of proper orders from his headquarters. Though taken by sur- 
prise, there was no panic in any part of the command; brigade after bri- 
gade changed front to the left and received the overwhelming battle as it 
rolled on, and was crushed back to the next, before it could deploy out to 
aid the front, or flank attack, until the last right brigade of the brave 
Corse changed and stood alone on the left of W. H. F. Lee's cavalry, 
fronting at right angle against the enemy's cavalry columns. 

It is not claiming too much for that grand division to say that, aided 
by the brigades of Ransom and Wallace, they could not have been dis- 
lodged from their intrenched position by parallel battle even by the 
great odds against them. As it was, Ayres's division staggered under the 
pelting blows that it met, and Crawford's drifted off from the blows 
against it, until it thus found the key of the battle away beyond the Con- 
federate limits. 

In generalship Pickett was not a bit below the "gay rider" [Sheri- 
dan]. His defensive battle was better organized, and it is possible that 
he would have gained the day if his cavalry had been diligent in giving 
information of the movements of the enemy. 



FIVE FORKS. 393 

After the surrender of Appomattox Court-house, Gen- 
eral Pickett received the following letter: 

Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, 

April ID, 1865. 
General: General Lee wishes you to make at once a short report 
of the operations of your command from the time of the recent attack of 
the enemy near Petersburg to the present. He desires you also to call 
upon the commanders of the divisions which were assigned to you since 
the recent operations commenced, for reports embracing their opera- 
tions between the time of the attack above referred to and the time of 
their assignment to your command. 

He wishes to have these before the army is dispersed, that he may 
have some data on which to base his own report. 
Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

(Signed) W. H. Taylor, Assistant Adjutant-General. 
Official: Latrobe, A. A.-G. 
Major-General G. E. Pickett, Commanding. 

In response to this request, General Pickett sent the 
following statement: 

Colonel : I have the honor to report that on the 29th of March, a tele- 
gram from headquarters of the Army of Northern Virginia was received at 
my headquarters at Swift Creek, ordering me to proceed with two brigades 
at that point (Corse's and Terry's), to cross the Appomattox and take the 
cars on the South-side Railroad for Sutherland's Station, Stuart's brigade, 
then in position in front of Petersburg, to join me en route. Hunton 's bri- 
gade was at this time on the north side of the James. Accordingly the col- 
umn was put in motion, the three brigades reaching Sutherland's about 
nine o'clock in the evening. Shortly afterward came an order from 
Lieutenant-General Anderson, to come on to the White Oak road and 
take position on the right of Major-General Bushrod Johnson's division. 
This was done by daybreak, through a drenching rain, the three bri- 
gades extending some distance up the road. The commander-in-chief, 
about twelve in the day, ordered me to move on with my three brigades, 
and two brigades under command of Brigadier-General M. Ransom (his 
own and Wallace's), and a battery of artillery under Colonel Pegram, to 
the Five Forks. Here Major-General Fitz Lee was with his division of 
cavalry, and Major-Generals W. H. F. Lee and Rosser were to join 



394 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

him with their divisions. The march was necessarily slow, on account 
of the continual skirmishing, front and ilank, with the Federal cavalry. 
They at one time charged in on the wagon-train, but were repulsed by 
Ransom. In front we had to drive them out of the way nearly the whole 
distance until we joined Fitz Lee at the Five Forks about sunset. I 
learned then that part of the ordnance-train had been turned back, it 
was said, by orders from the commander-in-chief. General Ransom had 
his ordnance-wagons, and on these we had to depend for supplying the 
whole command in the engagements which followed. I was about to 
push on toward Dinwiddie Court-house, when, upon consultation with 
General Fitz Lee (the other cavalry not having joined him, and it being 
nearly dark, and the men much in need of rest from an almost con- 
tinuous march of eighteen hours), I determined to throw out merely a 
couple of brigades, on the Court-house road, so as to keep the enemy at 
a respectful distance during the night. This was done. Corse and Terry 
advancing some three-quarters of a mile, driving the Federal cavalry, 
who, however, being dismounted and armed with the repeating rifle, 
made a vigorous fight. It rained throughout the night, and up to about 
twelve the next day. General Fitz Lee's scouts and guides could not 
ascertain exactly the opposing strength, but, from the prisoners taken 
up to this time, I knew we had no infantry in our front. "We discovered 
at daylight, that the enemy were quite strongly posted in a good position 
on the Court-house road. The rest of the cavalry having gotten up about 
ten o'clock in the morning, I determined to push on along a road still 
further to the right, cross the stream higher up with General W. H. F. 
Lee's and Rosser's cavalry, and the infantry, leaving Fitz Lee's division 
to come up the direct road toward the Court-house, as we advanced on 
the right. The rain had greatly swollen the streams, which was the 
chief reason for the delay of the cavalry. General W. H. F. Lee, with 
his division, very gallantly charged over the creek, but the enemy were 
too strong to be repulsed. The infantry, consequently, were not able to 
cross at that point and (the stream not being fordable) were compelled to 
draw back. I pushed the infantry across lower down, Terry's brigade 
leading. Colonel Mayo with the Third Virginia in advance. This regi- 
ment suffered a good deal, but the men gallantly dashed over the creek 
and swamp, killing and capturing, after a sharp engagement, about a 
hundred. Our whole force then moved on. Our adversary, meanwhile 
strongly reinforced, made a determined resistance, and it was dark when 
we arrived vathin half a mile of the Court-house. W. H. F. Lee's cav- 
alry had crossed at the same point and Fitz Lee's division had come up 
on the left. 



FIVE FORKS. 395 

This engagement was quite a spirited one, the men and officers be- 
having most admirably. Our loss was principally confined to W. H. F. 
Lee's cavalry and Terry's and Corse's brigades, among them many valu- 
able officers. The Federals suffered heavy loss; half an hour more of 
daylight and we would have reached the Court-house. As it was, some 
prisoners were taken belonging to the Fifth Corps (Warren's) 

The fact being thus developed that our opponents were reintorcing 
with infantry, and knowing the whole of Sheridan's and Kautz's cavalry 
were in our front, I was induced to fall back at daylight in the morning 
to the Five Forks, which I was directed' by telegram from the com- 
mander-in-chief to hold, so as to protect the road to Ford's Depot. 
This movement was made in perfect order, bringing off all our wounded 
and burying all our dead. The enemy was, however, pressing upon our 
rear in force. I had all trains parked in rear of Hatcher's Run and 
would have preferred that position, but from the telegram referred to, I 
supposed the commanding general intended sending up reinforcements. 
I had, in the meantime, reported by telegram, and informed the general 
commanding of the state of affairs, that the enemy was trying to get in 
between the main army and my command, and asking that diversion be 
made or I should be isolated. This evidently was intended, as Hunton's 
brigade did come up to Sutherland's, but not till after dark. The best 
arrangements were made of which the nature of the ground admitted; 
W. H. F. Lee's cavalry on the right, then Corse, Terry, Stuart, Ran- 
som and Wallace. General Fitz Lee was ordered to cover the ground 
between Wallace's left and the creek, with his cavalry dismounted. The 
Federals pushed up steadily from the Courtrhouse and commenced ex- 
tending to our left. General Ransom moved still further to the left, and I 
extended Stuart's brigade so as to cover his ground. General Ran- 
som sent word to me that the cavalry were not in position. General 
Fitz Lee was again ordered to cover the ground at once, and I supposed 
it had been done, when suddenly the enemy in heavy infantry column 
appeared on our left front, and the attack which had, up to that time, 
been confined principally to our front toward the Court-house now be- 
came general. Charge after charge was repulsed; but the Federals still 
kept pouring up division after division, and pressing round our left. 
General Ransom, perceiving this, took his brigade from behind his tem- 
porary breastworks and boldly charged the heavy column, effecting 
great havoc and temporarily checking its movement. His horse was 
killed, he falling under him, and his assistant adjutant-general, the 
brave but unfortunate Captain Gee, was killed. The few cavalry, 
however, which had taken position, gave way, and the assailants came 



396 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

pouring in on Wallace's left, causing his men to fall back. Pegram had 
been mortally wounded, the captain of the battery killed, and many of 
the men killed and wounded. I succeeded, nevertheless, in getting a 
sergeant, with men enough for one piece, put in position on the left, 
and fired some eight rounds into the head of the Federal column, when 
the axle broke, disabling the piece. I almost immediately withdrew 
Terry's brigade from its position, and threw it on the left flank, 
charging over Wallace's men and forcing them back to their position. 
Even then, with all the odds against us, we might have held till night, 
which was fast approaching, but the ammunition was rapidly failing. 
Colonel Floweree's regiment, after their cartridges were expended, 
fought hand to hand, but it was of no avail, and, although the Federal 
dead lay in heaps, we were obliged to give way, our left being com- 
pletely turned. Wallace's brigade again broke, though some of its offi- 
cers behaved most gallantly and used their utmost exertions to reform 
it, but in vain! Everything assumed the appearance of a panic, when, 
by dint of great personal exertion on the part of my staff, together with 
the general ofl&cers and their staff-officers, we compelled a rally and 
stand on Corse's brigade, which was still in perfect order and had 
repelled, as had W. H. F. Lee's cavalry, every assault. 

One of the most brilliant cavalry engagements of the war took place 
on this part of the field, near Mrs. Gilliam's residence. Here the Fed- 
eral cavalry made a most determined attack in heavy force, but were in 
turn charged by General W. H. F. Lee, and completely driven off the 
field. This, with the firm stand made by Corse's men, and those that 
could be rallied at this point, enabled many to escape capture. Thus 
the shades of the evening closed on the bloody field. Had the cavalry 
on the left done as well as that on the right, the day would probably 
have been ours; as it was, it was most stubbornly contested against great 
odds. The whole of Sheridan's cavalry joined with Kautz's, the Second 
Corps and part of the Sixth, were attacking us. I learned a few days 
afterward, from a general of division in Warren's corps, that it was 
nineteen thousand strong, making the whole force probably thirty-five 
thousand, while we had not more than six thousand engaged. Our 
loss in killed and wounded was very severe, and many were captured. 
Colonel Mumford, commanding General Fitz Lee's division, was quite 
active, and lent great assistance personally. During the evening, a 
large portion of the command having been assembled on the railroad, 
I proceeded with them toward Exeter Mills, intending to cross the Ap- 
pomattox at that point, and rejoin the main army. While at that point 
I received orders, by a staff-officer, to report to Lieutenant-General 



FIVE FORKS. 397 

R. H. Anderson at Sutherland's. At daylight the following morning I 
started to comply with the order, but had not proceeded far when I found 
the road strewn with unarmed stragglers from Wilcox's and Heth's 
divisions, who informed me that the lines in front of Petersburg had been 
forced. I decided immediately to follow up the river and join General 
Anderson, who, I learned, had gone in that direction, striking for Amelia 
Court-house. I omitted to mention that most of Ransom's brigade had 
crossed the river at Exeter Mills. I reported to General Anderson on 
the same day, and that night Hunton's brigade reported. They had also 
been in a heavy fight and had suffered severely, though they had acted 
with their usual good conduct. 

From this point up to the battle of Sailor's Run (a report of which 
I forwarded through General Anderson) there is nothing of any moment 
to relate except occasional skirmishing and continual marching night and 
day, with scarcely any rations. The second day after the battle referred 
to, not being able to find General Anderson's headquarters, I reported 
to Lieutenant-General Longstreet, and continued to receive orders from 
him until the army was paroled and dispersed. Early on the morning of 
the surrender, when the Federals made an advance from toward Ap- 
pomattox Court-house, Lieutenant-General Longstreet sent to General 
Heth a staff-officer (Captain Dunn) with orders to move up at once 
with his division. I had the remnant of my division, some eight hun- 
dred aggregate, drawn up on Heth's left, and informed Captain Dunn of 
the fact, and that we would move with Heth; this he authorized, and 
afterwards informed me of General Longstreet 's approval. The order 
to advance was, however, shortly afterward countermanded. I mention 
this fact merely to show that, even at the last, what few men of the old 
division were left were willing and ready to do their utmost to maintain 
the name they had so nobly won for heroism during four years of a bloody 
and terrible war, in which Virginia's sons had poured out (as a sacrifice 
for a liberty unfortunately not to be gained) the best blood of the proud 
old State. 

It is needless in this my last report of Pickett's division, to recall 
to the commander-in-chief, the trials, hardships and battles through 
which they have passed. Baptized in war at Bull Run and the First 
Manassas, under Lieutenant-General Longstreet 's instruction, they con- 
tinued to follow the lessons first taught them, oii their various marches; 
in the lines about Yorktown; at the glorious battle of Williamsburg, when 
they, with Wilson's Alabama brigade, withstood the advance of the whole 
of McClellan's Grand Army, and absolutely drove it back; at the 
Seven Pines, when they were so highly complimented by General Jos. 



398 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

E. Johnston; and at Gaines's Mill, Frazier's Farm, Second Manassas, 
Boonsboro, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, and the engagements about the 
lines in front of Bermuda Hundred, Fort Harrison, etc., which came 
under the personal observation of the commander-in-chief. The writ- 
ten and spoken acknowledgments of their worth from him have been 
gratefully appreciated by them. 

There having been no brigade or regimental reports handed in, it is 
impossible to state the casualties which have occurred in the last cam- 
paign. I must not conclude without mentioning the gallantry and un- 
tiring zeal in the cause exhibited by the brigade commanders, Generals 
Corse, Hunton, Terry, and StUart, and their valuable stall-officers, some 
of whom were killed and others wounded (General Terry's aide-de- 
camp, Lieutenant Harris, was killed, and Captain Fitzhugh, Genera! 
Hunton 's assistant adjutant-general, wounded, and Captain Brya.u, 
General Terry's assistant adjutant-general, wounded); and of the offi- 
cers of my staff, Majors Pickett and Harrison, adjutant and inspectors- 
general ; Major Horace Jones, commissary of subsistence ; Major R. 
Taylor Scott, quartermaster; Chief Surgeon M. M. Lewis; Captains 
Baird, Symington, and Bright, aide-de-camps; Captain Cochrane, ord- 
nance officer. In connection with this department (ordnance) I must 
not forget to mention the name, for ability and efficiency, of Captain S. 
G. Leitch, who had charge of it for three years; in fact, up to a short 
time before the campaign commenced. 

To the commanding officers of regiments my thanks and those of our 
State are due for their maintenance of discipline in their regiments, their 
continual and unswerving confidence in the cause, and their personal ac- 
tivity on the many battle-fields, in leading on their men to victory, or 
sustaining them under their various hardships. Such names as those of 
Montague, Phillips, Strange, Edmonds, Stuart, Herbert, Carrington, 
Green, Mayo, the Berkeleys, Floweree, White, Gantt, Preston, Peyton, 
Patton, Cary, Garland, Withers, Magruder, Langhorne, Otey, Hodges, 
August, Marye, Moore, Chew, Aylett, Slaughter, etc., should not be for- 
gotten in Virginia's history. 

I am. Colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant. 

(Signed) G. E. Pickett, 
Major-General Commanding. 
Colonel W. H. Taylor, 

Assistant Adjutant-General, Army of Northern Virginia. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

sailor's creek. 

Pickett's command, nobly acquiescent in the sacri- 
fices incidental to their defeat at Five Forks, calmly- 
confident in the justice of their cause, ever maintained 
unwavering loyalty. They held themselves in readi- 
ness to follow their beloved and fearless commander 
with undaunted courage wheresoever he should lead 
them. 

During the evening of the 1st of April the command 
collected, and assembled on the railroad, rallying around 
their headquarters flag. War-worn and weary, weakened 
by sufferings inconceivable, sadly reduced in numbers by 
losses in killed and captured, depressed, not only by 
past disasters but by the certainty of future defeat, they 
gathered bravely around their leader and their flag, with 
a courage which might lead them to death but would for- 
ever preserve them from dishonor. 

Early Sunday morning, the 2d of April, following the 
battle of Five Forks, Pickett, after reviewing his men, 
thanked them for their confidence in him, and for their 
valiant services in the last onslaught through which they 
had just passed. With words of courage he gave the 
order to march, proceeding with them toward Exeter 
Mills, at which point it was his intention to cross the 
Appomattox River and rejoin the main army. 

While the command, however, was at a halt at Exeter 
Mills, Pickett received, through a staff-officer, an order 
from R. H. Anderson to report to him at Sutherland's 

399 



400 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Tavern. Most of Matt Ransom's brigade had already- 
gone across the river at Exeter Mills. 

On the following morning, just as the day was breaking, 
Pickett, in accordance with the orders received from Ander- 
son, started out with his command, but he had not gone very 
far on his way when he found the road blocked and strewn 
with stragglers from Heth's and Wilcox's divisions. 

These wanderers informed Pickett that the lines in 
front of Petersburg had been forced, that they had been 
cut off from Petersburg, and that Anderson had gone 
on toward Amelia Court-house. Assured of the truth of 
this information, Pickett immediately followed on up the 
river, and on the evening of the same day (the 2d of 
April) joined Anderson at Deep Creek, nearly famished, 
for no rations had been issued since the scanty supply of 
the 29th — and yet not a murmur was heard. 

A few hours afterward Hunton's brigade, numbering 
about nine hundred, reported. This brigade had also 
been severely engaged, meeting with serious loss. On 
their march they learned that their beloved A. P. Hill 
had been killed at Petersburg, and just as they were going 
into bivouac came, too, the first sad intelligence of the 
evacuation of Richmond and its partial destruction by 
fire. These mournful tidings struck a knell of despair to 
every heart, but especially to those whose families and 
homes, together with all their worldly possessions, were 
within the captured, burning city. 

With the light which we now have, it seems strange 
that this' blow should have been made heavier by com- 
ing as a surprise, but the fact was, that the loss of 
their capital was a calamity for which the Confeder- 
ate soldiers were wholly unprepared. It seemed, how- 
ever, but to strengthen their resolve as they perseveringly 
marched on. 



SAILOR'S CREEK. 40 1 

To describe the sufferings of the march on to Amelia 
Court-house and thence to Sailor's Creek would be to 
paint a picture of the darkest horror. The army supplies 
were utterly exhausted. There was no food to be had in 
the country. All the homes along the line had been 
stripped by those who had come in advance. There was 
nothing to eat but a little parched corn when they stopped 
long enough to parch it. This they shelled from the ear 
as they marched along. Many of the men, overcome by 
fatigue and suffering, loss of sleep and hunger, succumbed 
by the way, and others found themselves going to sleep 
as they walked along and would stumble and fall in the 
road. Now and then they made a halt for a skirmish 
with the enemy, who were on all sides, front, rear and both 
flanks. Time and again during the forty-eight hours they 
were forced to halt and not only draw up in line of battle, 
but form a hollow square to prevent capture. 

The tortures of the march were intensified by the fact 
that it led through a country in which lived the families 
and friends of many of these soldiers who were marching 
on to death, imprisonment, or to the humiliation of de- 
feat. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that they were within 
a few hours of their homes and loved ones, whom they 
had not seen, many of them for months and many for 
years, there was but little straggling. 

Although it was not safe to stray faf from the com- 
mand on account of the enemy's cavalry, yet now and 
then some one of these starving heroes, impelled by the 
pangs of hunger, would venture off in a vain search for 
food, only to fall from weakness by the wayside. 

All the sufferings, privations, and hardships of the four 
preceding years put together would not equal those en- 
dured on this march to Amelia Court-house, yet they went 
bravely on, sustained by the hope that food awaited them 



402 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

there. Lee, knowing that they had started off with only 
a day's rations, had ordered provisions to that point. 

In the meantime the fatality foreseen by the prescient 
Lee had taken place. The last blow had fallen upon the 
doomed Confederacy. The dread message which had 
flashed across the wires on the morning of Sunday, the 2d 
of April, had interrupted the devotions of the government 
oflicials in St. Paul's Church in Richmond, to tell them that 
their capital had fallen. 

They hastened from the church to the State-house to 
secure the Confederate archives and convey them to a 
place (?f safety. Then, giving orders for the firing of the 
city, they left on the evening train, lighted on their way 
by the flames which illumined the capital, and followed 
by the thunderous reports of the exploding ironclads on 
the James. 

Next morning the victorious army came scurrying 
across country, pell-mell, in a wild race to see which could 
be first in at the death, for Richmond had fallen. 

At the very time that the ragged, hungry, weary, suf- 
fering soldiers of a lost cause were marching on their 
painful journey, cheering themselves with the hope of 
succor at the next halting-place, the flag of the victors 
was waving over the capital city of the Confederacy. 

Upon arriving at Amelia on the afternoon of the 4th, 
the army ascertained that the supplies ordered by Lee 
had been brought to the point designated, but the authori- 
ties had immediately sent the train containing them to 
Richmond to bring away the officials of the fallen capi- 
tal, and by some strange misunderstanding it had gone 
on without waiting to unload! 

Thus was the great army of brave, patient, suffering 
men, who had offered for their cause life, home, and all 
the hopes and aspirations they had ever known, sacrificed 



SAILOR S CREEK. 403 

for a few civic officers and the archives of a nation which 
had died in its birth. 

The Confederate forces were now widely scattered. Lee 
recognized the necessity of concentration. On leaving 
Richmond, his intention was to retreat to Danville, on the 
southern boundary of Virginia, southwest of Richmond, 
from which point he hoped to effect a projected union 
with Johnston. 

His first objective point was Burkesville, fifty-two 
miles south of Richmond, at the junction of the Richmond 
and Danville and the Norfolk and Western railroads. 
This place safely reached, he could destroy the roads in 
the rear and for a time escape pursuit. He had gained 
some hours, and might have carried his plan to success 
but for the delay caused by the fatal mistake in ordering 
off the loaded train of supplies which he had taken such 
pains to provide. The sufferings of the starving army, 
and the consequent halts which were made in efforts to 
obtain subsistence, enabled Sheridan to overpass Lee and 
reach Jetersville on the Danville Railroad, seven miles 
southwest of Amelia, from which place he telegraphed 
Grant at Petersburg. Grant arrived at Jetersville at mid- 
night, presented himself at the headquarters of Sheridan, 
who, roused from his slumbers, hastened to meet him. 
Sheridan explained the position by means of a sketch 
hastily drawn upon a letter which he took from his pocket. 

" Lee is caught," said Grant. " It will be hard for him 
to get away." 

Perhaps it was hard, but when Sheridan arrived at 
Amelia on the morning of the 6th of April, he found that 
the difficult feat had been accomplished, and Lee had once 
more eluded a well-laid plot. 

On the morning of the 6th, Pickett reached Sailor's 
Creek, where for some hours he made a halt in line of 



404 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

battle. This creek is a marshy stream, difificult to cross, 
running westerly into the Appomattox. 

In the meantime every effort was being made by the 
Confederates to push on their wagon-trains and artillery 
across the Appomattox River at Farmville, a small town 
west of the Danville Railroad. The mud and mire and 
famishing animals made the progress slow. Soldiers may 
live for a time on hope and patriotism, but mules and 
horses must have fodder and corn. Both the wagon-road 
to Lynchburg and the South-side Railroad cross the Ap- 
pomattox at Farmville, and the latter again five miles east 
of it, at High Bridge. The river being too deep to ford, 
Farmville therefore became an important point to both 
armies. 

Ewell's command was on Pickett's left, and Mahone's 
division was on his right. Sheridan, with his thousands 
of well-fed, well-equipped cavalry, was in front, making 
every demonstration to delay the Confederates from at- 
tacking until he should be reinforced by his infantry. 

Meantime Mahone received orders to move on, thus 
leaving a gap in the Confederate line, which grew wider 
as Mahone advanced. 

Hunton, from his position on the right of Pickett's 
division, observed this movement and gave notice of it 
to Pickett, who at once made a report to Anderson 
of Mahone's withdrawal, and of the consequent danger 
to his own command, and asked permission to follow 
Mahone. 

The order, however, which Anderson had received 
from the commander-in-chief to "hold on in connection 
with Ewell's command, unfortunately prevented him," 
he said, "from complying with Pickett's request." In 
the meanwhile, the gap between Pickett and Mahone was 
increasing. 



SAILOR'S creek: 405 

Colonel Huger's battalion of artillery attempted to 
cross this gap when Mahone was a mile or more in advance 
of Pickett. This movement was defeated by Sheridan, 
who made a swift and vigorous attack upon Huger. 

Pickett, witnessing this byplay, immediately pushed 
with his division across Sailor's Creek and charged upon 
the Federals with two of his brigades, and the other two 
quickly followed, 

Sheridan, taken by surprise, was driven back more than 
half a mile, abandoning two of Huger's captured guns in 
his haste. He carried off Colonel Huger with him, but 
Captain Grattan, Colonel Huger's adjutant, made his es- 
cape on one of the artillery-horses, carrying a gun with 
him. 

Pickett then formed line of battle and held it against 
the repeated attacks of Sheridan's dismounted cavalry. 
His division was by this time completely isolated, 
both flanks being unprotected. About three o'clock shout 
after shout was echoed from the Federal lines. Pickett's 
men knew it meant that the infantry, so anxiously looked 
for by Sheridan, had come to his aid, and they realized 
the increased perils of their position. 

The Federal cavalry and infantry began at once to close 
around the Confederate right. Anderson, seeing that 
Pickett's men were being hemmed in on all sides, and 
knowing that it was too late then for him to move on his 
line of march, gave the order to Pickett to draw off his 
brigades to the rear, and to cut his way out in any man- 
ner possible. 

Anderson, in order that he might assist Pickett in this 
movement, deployed Wise's brigade in the rear of Pick- 
ett's line of battle. Sheridan at once charged on every 
side. Pickett's men, overwhelmed by numbers, fighting 
hand-to-hand, stubbornly resisted to the bitter end their 



406 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

inevitable fate. Many of the men broke their guns, and 
many of the ofificers snapped their swords in two, rather 
than surrender them to the enemy. They fought as hero- 
ically and nobly on this, their last battle-field, when all 
hope was gone, as they had ever done in any battle, even 
when in their first flush of glory, and in perfect faith of 
ultimate success. 

Corse and Hunton were taken prisoners, with almost 
the entire remnant of their commands. Stewart and 
Terry succeeded in getting off the field. Pickett himself, 
with Colonel Walter Harrison and his medical director^ 
Dr. M. M. Lewis, escaped death or capture almost by a 
miracle. Pickett, seeing several squadrons of cavalry rid- 
ing directly down upon them, rallied around him a mere 
squad of his beloved old division, and with this last rally 
the men fired their parting shot into the faces of the ad- 
vancing horsemen, and in the momentary check they 
made their escape. 

In the annals of warfare there is found no page which 
glows more vividly with the light of heroism than does 
that which records the retreat of the Confederate army 
after the battle of Sailor's Creek. Starving, jaded by 
forced marches and strenuous exertion in battle, it yet 
found strength to turn and with its old-time impetu- 
osity and transcendent effort, force back twice across the 
stream the strong, well-fed, victorious army of Sheridan. 
Friend and foe alike have marveled over such wondrous 
gallantry displayed in the face of so great suffering 
and disaster. Truly the last flashes of the expiring 
flames of Southern hopes and Southern ambitions have 
shed imperishable glory over the record of the men 
who kept those flames alive through over four years of 
heroic struggle against overwhelming odds of men and 
resources. 



SAILOR'S CREEK. 40/ 

After the battle of Sailor's Creek occurred the first 
reunion of the Blue and Gray. It was when Sheridan's 
soldiers shared their rations with Pickett's men until 
Grant issued orders for their supply. Thus the voice of 
a common ancestry of blood and kinship was heard as 
an echo to the roar of cannon. In after years came other 
reunions. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

THE BLUE AND THE GRAY. 

When Abraham Lincoln stood at the foot of Cemetery 
Ridge and looked upward to where the frowning cannon 
had so short a time before sent its leaden death to the 
valley below, some one said to him, "Think of the men 
who held these heights!" "Yes," he replied, "but think 
of the men who stormed these heights!" 

As Pickett's division, weary, foot-sore and heart-sore, 
wended their toilsome way through Pennsylvania, on the 
march which ended on the field of Gettysburg, they passed 
a small Dutch house nestling away in the greenery of a 
pleasant village. As they came near a little maid rushed 
out upon the porch, waving the stars and stripes in a wild 
burst of patriotic enthusiasm. 

For a moment the leader of that wayworn band felt 
apprehensive that not all its members could be depended 
upon to maintain their chivalry in the presence of that ban- 
ner which to them represented so much of wrong done upon 
their native soil. Many of them had come from the war- 
ravaged district of Suffolk, and Southerners will know what 
that flag meant to them. Instantly the General wheeled 
from the line and, taking off his cap, bowed to the little 
maid with all that grace for which he was noted in camp 
as well as drawing-room, and respectfully saluted the flag 
of his foes. Then turning he lifted his hand, and when 
the long line had passed every man in it had doffed his 
cap to the youthful patriot and had saluted the banner 
which she had made her gage of battle. 

408 



THE BLUE AND THE GRAY. 4O9 

The delighted little maiden, who had never before re- 
ceived the homage of a whole division, cried out in a glow 
of gratitude: 

" I wish I had a Confederate flag; I would wave that, 
too!" 

The General was asked afterward how he could bring 
himself to salute the enemy's flag. 

"I did not salute the enemy's flag," he replied. "I 
saluted the heroic womanhood in the heart of that brave 
little girl, and the glorious old banner under which I won 
my first laurels." 

On the twenty-fourth anniversary of the greatest battle 
of the western continent the men who held those heights 
and the men who stormed those heights — all that were 
left of them — met on the old blood-stained field where 
the bravest deeds known to history had been performed. 

Peace had laid her soft mantle over the heights which 
nearly a quarter of a century before had been frowned 
upon by war's wrinkled visage. In majestic silence the 
peaks looked skyward through the golden sun. 

An amber glory lay over the summit of Little Round 
Top, and the stream at its base which had once flowed 
crimson now reflected in silvery gleams the light above it. 

The clouds of battle had drifted away long ago, and 
in their place were only soft gray mists, sun-tinted, float- 
ing like a veil of peace around the crest where once the 
Philadelphia brigade met the onset of Pickett's men. The 
war-clouds had vanished, but many of the brave defenders 
of the height yet remained. As generous in peace as they 
had been brave in war, they had come with outstretched 
hands to welcome all who were left of the ragged veterans 
who so valiantly scaled Cemetery Heights on that terrible 
July day which had burned its fiery mark upon the pages 
of our history. 



410 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

Every part of that ground had been consecrated by a 
deed of heroism. The banner of the South furled itself 
in sadness around its broken flag-staff long ago, but the 
field on which its heroes fought and fell is sacred to all 
Southern hearts. Here, upon this spot, fell a young lieu- 
tenant, wounded unto death, carrying the battle-flag of 
the South. When the searchers from the hospital went 
over the field to perform their sad duty they found him 
lying under a tree with a worn blanket for a pillow. His 
youthful face was white with pain and exhaustion. Such 
a very young face it was, one could not help thinking that 
the arm of a loving mother would be a far more fitting pil- 
low than the rough old army blanket for the boyish head. 
The farewell kisses of home seemed yet to linger upon 
the gentle lips. 

He was sadly wounded, but refused to be taken to the 
hospital, stating as a reason for the rejection of the prof- 
fered aid that he was comfortable, and others worse hurt 
than he should be cared for first. So they left him, be- 
cause he urged them to do so, and when they came later 
the brave soul had passed beyond the darkness and the 
pain. When he was lifted they saw why he had sent 
them away. He had been lying upon his battle-flag, 
carefully folded and placed beneath him that it might not 
fall into the hands of the enemy. The banner which he 
had protected in life he guarded still in death. 

Tenderly Northern hands wrapped it around the dead 
hero whose life-blood had saturated its folds. "And it 
was his martial cloak and shroud." Never was warrior 
more proudly draped for his last long sleep. Never did 
the mightiest of earth lie in grander state than did this 
boy soldier in the protecting folds of the flag he had so 
loved. Stranger hands laid in a Northern grave that 
noble son of the South. " Unknown," the grave is marked; 



THE BLUE AND THE GRAY. 4II 

unknown to the passer-by, but known forever to his God. 
Stranger eyes let fall the tears which sank into the earth 
to unite with nature's subtle forces and spring upward in 
love's life and beauty to bloom in violets above that hero 
heart. Who shall say that the winds, blowing southward, 
did not lift upon their radiant wings a breath of those 
sweet flowers and carry it like a holy benediction to wait- 
ing, sorrowing hearts in his beloved Southland? 

A young officer rushed up in front of Cowan's battery, 
brandishing his sword and crying: "Take that battery!" 
Colonel Cowan shouted, "Fire!" The artillery flamed 
out its fiery death and all within its range fell. After the 
battle was over Colonel Cowan picked up the officer's 
sword which had been so defiantly brandished in front of 
his battery and carried it with him in honor of the brave 
soldier who had borne it to his death. For years he made 
efforts to find some one who might claim it by right of 
kinship with its brave owner. Failing in this, he brought 
it with him to the reunion on the historic ground from 
which he had taken it, and, in an eloquent speech, pre- 
sented it to Pickett's men amid tears for the noble dead 
and cheers for the noble living. It is still treasured as a 
priceless relic of battle-days, and the luster with which it 
is adorned by the bravery of its wearer and the generosity 
of its captor will never fade. 

Over there is where Pettigrew with his brave North 
Carolinians fought with desperate courage to support the 
left flank of Pickett's column as the artillery plowed 
death-furrows through its ranks. Hopeless effort, but 
not vain, for the valor with which it was made is a coronet 
of glory on the brow of the good North State. 

Here the plain, honest man of the people stood and 
gave utterance to his thought in words which appeal not 
to those alone to whom he spoke. They sprang from a 



412 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

deep, sympathetic soul and struck responsive chords in all 
hearts whose bravest and dearest had helped to make that 
ground so sacred that no living presence could deepen its 
consecration. Here manhood reached a height of courage 
and ardent love from which it could not recede, and had 
gone beyond into the highest. "The last full measure of 
devotion " had been given by the Gray and the Blue alike. 

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this 
continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the propo- 
sition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great 
civil war, testing whether that nation so conceived and so dedicated, can 
long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We are 
met to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place of those who 
here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting 
and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense we can not 
dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The 
brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far 
above our power to add or subtract. The world will little note nor long 
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. 
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished 
work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to 
be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from 
these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which 
they here gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly 
resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain, that the nation shall, 
under God, have a new birth of freedom and that a government of the 
people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the 
earth. 

"The brave men, living and dead — " The living come 
with generous hand of greeting. North and South, and 
their voices speak only friendship. The dead? I look 
beyond and see their loved and loving faces. On the 
crest of life's sublimest height they fell, to rise again in 
supernal triumph. From the eternal silence they look 
down and are glad. 

Over the long pathway on which Armistead, Garnett, 



THE BLUE AND THE GRAY. 413 

and thousands of other brave ones marched to death the 
daisies were blossoming in a great white sea. As I looked 
they seemed to fall, crushed under the rush of martial 
feet, and through the mists of a quarter century I saw 
that long line moving forward in the wondrous charge of 
which the poet has written: 

WHEN PICKETT CHARGED AT GETTYSBURG.* 

When Pickett charged at Gettysburg, 
For three long days with carnage fraught, 
Two hundred thousand men had fought; 
And courage could not gain the field, 
Where stubborn valor would not yield. 
With Meade on Cemetery Hill, 
And mighty Lee thundering still 
Upon the ridge a mile away; 
Four hundred guns in counterplay 
Their deadly thunderbolts had hurled — 
The cannon duel of the world — 

When Pickett charged at Gettysburg. 

When Pickett charged at Gettysburg, 
Dread war had never known such need 
Of some o'ermastering, valiant deed; 
And never yet had cause so large 
Hung on the fate of one brief charge. 
To break the center, but a chance; 
With Pickett waiting to advance: 
It seemed a crime to bid him go, 
And Longstreet said not "Yes" nor "No," 
But silently he bowed his head. 
"I shall go forward!" Pickett said. 

Then Pickett charged at Gettysburg, 



*" Pickett's Charge," by Fred Emerson Brooks, in Metropolitan 
Magazine. ^ 



414 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 



Then Pickett charged at Gettysburg: 
Down from the little wooded slope, 
A-step with doubt, a-step with hope, 
And nothing but the tapping drum 
To time their tread, still on they come. 
Four hundred cannon hush their thunder, 
While cannoneers gaze on in wonder! 
Two armies watch, with stifled breath. 
Full eighteen thousand march to death. 
At elbow-touch, with banners furled. 
And courage to defy the world. 

In Pickett 's charge at Gettysburg. 

'Tis Pickett's charge at Gettysburg: 
None but tried veterans can know 
How fearful 'tis to charge the foe; 
But these are soldiers will not quail, 
Though Death and Hell stand in their traill 
Flower of the South and Longstreet 's pride. 
There's valor in their very stride! 
Virginian blood runs in their veins, 
And each his ardor scarce restrains; 
Proud of the part they're chosen for; 
The mighty cyclone of the war, 

In Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. 

'Tis Pickett's charge at Gettysburg: 
How mortals their opinions prize 
When armies march to sacrifice. 
And souls by thousands in the fight 
On battle's smoky wing take flight. 
Firm-paced they come in solid form — 
The dreadful calm before the storm. 
Those silent batteries seem to say: 
"We're waiting for you, men in gray!" 
Each anxious gunner knows full well 
Why every shot of his must tell 

On Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. 



THE BLUE AND THE GRAY. 41$ 



'Tis Pickett's charge at Gettysburg: 
What grander tableau can there be 
Than rhythmic swing of infantry 
At shouldered arms, with flashing steel? 
As Pickett swings to left, half-wheel, 
Those monsters instantly outpour 
Their flame and smoke and death! and roar 
Their fury on the silent air — 
Starting a scene of wild despair; 
Lee's batteries roaring: "RoomI Make room!!" 
With Meade's replying: "Doom I 'Tis doom 

To Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. " 

•Tis Pickett's charge at Gettysburg: 
Now Hancock's riflemen begin 
To pour their deadly missiles in. 
Can standing grain defy the hail? 
Will Pickett stop? Will Pickett fail? 
His kft is all uncovered through 
That fateful halt of Pettigrewl 
And Wilcox from the right is cleft 
By Pickett's half-wheel to the left! 
Brave Stannard rushes in the gap — 
No more disastrous thing could hap 

To Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. 

'Tis Pickett's charge at Gettysburg: 
How terrible it is to see 
Great armies making history: 
Long lines of muskets belching flame! 
No need of gunners taking aim 
When from that thunder-cloud of smoke 
The lightning kills at every stroke! 
If there's a place resembling hell, 
'Tis where, 'mid shot and bursting shell, 
Stalks Carnage arm in arm with Death, 
A furnace-blast in every breath, 

On Pickett 's charge at Gettysburg. 



4l6 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 



'Tis Pickett's charge at Gettysburg: 
Brave leaders fell on every hand! 
Unheard, unheeded, all command! 
Battered in front and torn in flank; 
A frenzied mob in broken rank! 
They come like demons, with a yell, 
And fight like demons, all pell-mell! 
The wounded stop not till they fall; 
The living never stop at all — 
Their blood-bespattered faces say, 
" 'Tis death alone stops men in gray, 

With Pickett's charge at Gettysburg!" 

Stopped Pickett's charge at Gettysburg 
Where his last ofificer fell dead, 
The peerkss, dashing Armistead! 
Where ebbed the tide and left the slain 
Like wreckage from the hurricane — 
That awful spot which soldiers call 
"The bloody angle of the wall, " 
There Pickett stopped, turned back again 
Alone, with just a thousand men! 
And not another shot was fired — 
So much is bravery admired! 

Pickett had charged at Gettysburg. 

Brave Pickett's charge at Gettysburg! 
The charge of England's Light Brigade 
Was nothing to what Pickett made 
To capture Cemetery Hill — 
To-day a cemetery still, 
With flowers in the rifle-pit. 
And no one cares to capture it. 
The field belongs to those who fell; 
They hold it without shot or shell; 
While cattle yonder in the vale 
Are grazing on the very trail 

Where Pickett charged at Gettysburg. 



THE BLUE AND THE GRAY. 417 

Where Pickett charged at Gettysburg, 
In after years survivors came 
To tramp once more that field of fame; 
And Mrs. Pickett led the Gray, « 

Just where her husband did that day. 
The Blue were waiting at the wall, 
The Gray leaped over, heart and all! 
Where man had failed with sword and gun, 
A woman's tender smile had won: 
The Gray had captured now the Blue, 
What mortal valor could not do 

When Pickett charged at Gettysburg. 

This twenty-fourth anniversary of the greatest battle 
of the war was not the first reunion, within my experience, 
of the Blue and the Gray. When the great Civil War 
closed it left me, as it did other Southern women, with a 
bitterness of heart which could conceive of nothing good 
in those whom I regarded as enemies. The General had 
■ his old army friends with whom he had fought side by 
side on the fields of Mexico, whom he had loved through 
all the terrible four years, and whose affection for him 
had never wavered. The sword had severed the few ties 
which had linked me with the North. 

The same bitterness went with me on our return from 
Canada, when we so unexpectedly became the guests in 
New York of some of the General's dearest and most in- 
timate comrades in arms in the olden days. As I became 
acquainted with these true and generous friends I learned 
that men may honestly differ politically and even draw 
their swords against each other, and still keep warm and 
faithful hearts that only await the opportunity to give ex- 
pression to their brotherly feeling. I remembered that 
my hero had fought as bravely under the stars and 
stripes as he had ever fought under the stars and bars. 
While my beloved South held the highest place in my af- 

27 



4l8 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. 

factions, next to her was the North that could produce 
brave and noble men whose friendship could stand a test 
so severe. I took the General's watch, which he had 
carried through two wars, and had inscribed on the inner 
side of the case the names of the battles in which he had 
fought under each flag. On the outside I had enameled 
the two flags, joined together with two ribbons, one of 
blue, the other of gray. I had not consulted the General 
about this "reunion," and the pleasure which mingled 
with his surprise showed how dear to him were the mem- 
ories of his old-time battle-fields, and the love of his old- 
time friends. 

A solemn reunion took place when we collected the 
bodies of the Confederate and Federal soldiers and gave 
them burial in the ground which had been made sacred 
by their blood. Ofttimes the dust of the Blue and the 
Gray mingled in the same coffin. Out from the infinite 
their hands, united, reach down to us and point the way 
to a higher and purer national life. 

Years later there was a sad reunion, when the Phila- 
delphia brigade came to Richmond to attend the unveil- 
ing of Pickett's monument on Gettysburg Hill in Holly- 
wood Cemetery, the first time that such a token of remem- 
brance had ever been offered to a fallen foe. Brave men, 
come to do honor to a hero who had fought against them, 
their presence was a touching tribute which appealed to 
the depths of the Southern heart, and the friendships 
formed then can never be broken. 

In the year in which I write the Philadelphia brigade 
and Pickett's men met again in the beautiful Quaker City, 
whose generous heart had devised a succession of exquisite 
pleasures for the entertainment of her guests. It was a 
happy reunion, saddened only by the absence of loved 
ones who once met with us in genial comradeship. We 



THE BLUE AND THE GRAY. 419 

still seemed to hear their voices recounting memories of 
the olden days when not even the most prophetic soul 
could have foretold the time when the hand of the Gray 
would clasp the hand of the Blue in a friendship that was 
cemented in blood. 

A few weeks afterward there was a pathetic reunion 
when the members of Sedgwick Post, Grand Army of 
the Republic, of Wakefield, Rhode Island, escorted the 
"Daughter of the Confederacy" when she started on her 
last solemn journey to the South which she so loved. 
Sweet Winnie Davis, her noble and gracious life too early 
ended upon earth, sleeps the long, long sleep in the heart 
of that land which held her so dear, and on her sacred 
grave North and South alike gently place the myrtle of 
love. 

And now lately, at Atlanta, our President, in whose 
administration North and South have come nearer, per- 
haps, than at any other time since the beginning of our 
constitutional history, and whose justice and sympathy 
have had great influence :n promoting this friendly union, 
has awakened by tender and loving words renewed im- 
pulses to thrill through the deep heart of our great Union. 

The tempest of war did not sweep away the traditions 
which formed so large a part of the basis of life in the 
South. They dwell deep in the hearts of the people, 
where they give light and glory to life, as the sunlight of 
the ages, locked up in the depths of earth, transmutes its 
glow into the sparkle of the glittering gem. 

The flag of the South floats not in triumph from the 
masts of great ships that ride the sea in splendor, but far 
above in the deepest arch of the highest firmament of life 
its stars glitter in eternal radiance. 

The South has left its lotus-land, with its mystic 
purple shades and soft odors that lull the soul to ravish- 



420 PICKETT And HIS MEN. 

ing dreams, and entered the bracing atmosphere and 
healthy light of the world of to-day. She has delved into 
the depths of the earth and brought up the mighty forces 
of civilization which nature in the beginning stored away 
for this time of her awakening. 

She sits not amid the ruins of her temples, like a sor- 
rowing priestess with veiled eyes and depressed soul, 
mourning for that which hath been. With face turned 
sunward and heart aflame with ardor, she goes bravely 
forth with faith and trust to meet that which shall be. 
Janus-like, she looks to the past and the future; to the 
the past for the deeds of heroism from which she gains 
that inspiration needed in peace as in war, to the future 
for that prosperity which can be found in unbroken unity 
alone. 

The sacred memories of the long and heroic struggle 
of the South belong not within the limits of geographic 
lines. They are the possession of our country, one and 
undivided. They have become the heritage of the nation. 
The river of blood that flowed on its crimson way through 
our land a generation ago has fertilized the soil for bear- 
ing yet more luxuriant blossoms of patriotism. 

The star of the South burns in golden flame against the 
pulsing arch of sky which bends above the sunny land; on 
the distant horizon the star of the North sparkles in 
iridescent gleams upon crests of snow, and their mingled 
light illumes the pathway on which our nation moves to 
a glorious destiny. 

While I was the guest of Pickett's men in the parade 
at the reunion of the Gray in Atlanta, my son was in the 
army of the Blue, serving his country against a foreign 
foe. For the only time in our many meetings to com- 
memorate the past, he was absent from my side; but my 
arm was around his child, the namesake grandson of the 



THE BLUE AND. 7 HE GRAY. 421 

great Confederate leader, and the little blue-eyed boy was 
waving the flag of Virginia with as enthusiastic loyalty as 
could have been displayed by a much older son of that 
great State. 

Directly behind our coach marched veterans of the 
George E. Pickett, the Pickett-Buchanan, and the R. E. 
Lee camps, clad in their old uniforms of Confederate gray, 
and carrying the tattered and battle-stained flags which 
they had so valiantly borne in deadly conflict in a genera- 
tion past. Old and feeble they were, many of them dis- 
abled by the wounds of that fearful time. The presence 
of many of them there was due to a whole year, perhaps, 
of self-denial on the part of themselves and their families, 
who had made every sacrifice in order that the old sol- 
dier might meet once more with his comrades of the olden 
days — "for the last time," one of them said to me with 
touching sadness. Gallantly they marched on, no more 
heeding the pouring rain than they had heeded it in the 
brave days of old. 

As they toiled along through the drenching rain my 
heart went back to the time when those war-worn veterans 
first donned the old uniform of gray and lifted high above 
their ranks those banners, now battle-scarred, then bright 
and beautiful, and floating out upon the spring-time breeze 
as if to promise a glorious future for the hearts that loved 
them and saw in their stars the light of victory, 

"These arc my boys!" proudly exclaimed General 
Pickett to me, pointing to his long line of Southern 
heroes, when I first went into camp where, with my hus- 
band, I spent the early years of my marriage. 

It seems fitting that these heroic men who followed 
their leader so bravely on the hardest-fought fields of the 
South should have a distinctive place in history. 
They poured out their blood for the cause which was to 



422 PICKETT AND HIS MEN. • 

them the dearest on earth. Their memory is a golden 
thread in the strong and beautiful web of Southern life. 
Their graves make sacred the historic ground of the 
land for which they fought and fell. The star of their 
country's fame gleams more brightly in the great world- 
sky because they have lived and died. 

A few of these boys yet linger on the shores of time, 
and their voices greet us with the thrill of the olden days. 
Far more have drifted away on the sea of silence. If the 
flower of memory which I lovingly plant on the grave of 
the dead shall bloom to cheer the heart of the living I 
am content. 



APPENDIX. 



GENERAL GEORGE E. PICKETT.* 

To all Virginians and to all the survivors of the Army of Mexico 
the announcement of the death of this admirable officer will give a thrill 
of pain. Perhaps there .is no doubt that he was the best infantry soldier 
developed on either side during the Civil War. His friends and admirers 
are by no means confined to the Southern people or soldiers to whom he 
gave his heart and best affections and of whom he was so noble a type, 
but throughout the North and on the Pacific coast where he long served, 
his friends and lovers are legion. 

He was of the purest type of the perfect soldier, possessing manly 
beauty in the highest degree; a mind large and capable of taking in the 
bearings of events under all circumstances; of that firm and dauntless 
texture of soul that no danger or shock of conflict could appall or con- 
fuse; full of that rare magnetism which could infuse itself into masses 
of men and cause any mass under his control to act as one; his per- 
ception clear; his courage of that rare proof which rose to the occasion; 
his genius for war so marked that his companions all knew that his mind 
worked clearer under fire, and in the "deadly and imminent breach," 
than even at mess-table or in the merry bivouac, where his genial and 
kindly comradeship and his perfect breeding as a gentleman made him 
beloved by his friends. 

He will live in history as nearer to Light Horse Harry, of the Revo- 
lution, than any other of the many heroes produced by old Virginia — 
his whole history when told, as it will be by some one of the survivors 
of Pickett's men, will reveal a modern type of the Chevalier Bayard, 
' ' Sans feur et sans refroche. ' ' 

George Pickett graduated at the Military Academy in 1846. He im- 
mediately joined his regiment, the Eighth United States Infantry, in 

* Written and published by the General's old friend. General George 
B. McClellan, August 7, 1875. A copy of the manuscript and a touch- 
ing letter was sent to our boy, "the General's namesake son," and to 
me, "the devoted wife. " 

425 



426 APPENDIX. 

Mexico; was actively engaged in seven general engagements and distin- 
guished in all. At the assault of the castle of Chapultepec he was of 
the storming party, as second lieutenant, with Longstreet as first lieuten- 
ant of the company. Here his activity and personal valor was such as to 
carry him the first man to the Mexican standard which floated on the 
citadel of that formidable stronghold. Amid a storm of Mexican bullets 
he pulled down the emblem of the Aztec and ran up the flag of the Eighth 
Infantry. He won and received three brevets for his service in Mexico, 
and these before he had reached the age of twenty-five. 

After that war he served in Texas and upon the southern frontier till 
1856, when he was sent with his regiment, being then a captain, to the Pa- 
cific to aid in suppressing an Indian war then raging in Oregon and Wash- 
ington Territory and involving all the tribes from the Modocs on the bor- 
ders of California to the Indian tribes on the confines of British America 
to the north. The braves of tribes numbering forty-two thousand souls 
had arisen to "wipe out" the few settlers of the Northwest, and to en- 
counter them the general government had but fourteen hundred regulars 
who, with the two thousand volunteers of Oregon and Washington Terri- 
tory, after fighting two years, so effectually subdued these savages that, with 
the exception of the Modocs, they have never made war since. 

In this remote and obscure war, George Pickett was distinguished. 
At its close he was directed by General Harney, then commanding the 
military department of the Northwest, to build a fort on the northern 
boundary between the United States and the British provinces on Puget 
Sound, and garrison it. In 1859 the question of ownership between the 
United States and Great Britain of the Island of San Juan arose, and 
General Harney ordered Captain Pickett to occupy the island. Pickett 
by a masterly movement threw himself and company by night upon the 
disputed territory, raised the flag and erected earthworks — he had but 
sixty-eight men all told. Within forty-eight hours the British fleet came 
upon the adjacent British island of Vancouver, five ships-of-war and six- 
teen hundred men, and demanded that Pickett evacuate; he answered by 
a defiance and announced his intention to fight as long as a man of his com- 
mand lived. After exhaustmg both threats and diplomacy the British ad- 
miral and the governor of Vancouver's Island agreed to leave the matter 
of the occupation of the island to their respective governments, and Gen- 
eral Winfield Scott was sent by the United States to the coast, where the 
matter was settled by the joint occupation by garrisoning both of Ameri- 
can and British troops, and a fort called Camp Pickett was erected and 
■^ immanded by Captain Pickett till the commencement of the Civil War. 

It is a fact not generally known, that the movements which are re- 



MEMOIR. 427 

ferred to here in the occupation of San Juan had their origin in a patri- 
otic attempt on the part of General Harney, Governor Stevens, of Wash- 
ington Territory, and other Democratic Federal officers on that coast, 
with the knowledge and zealous concurrence of Captain Pickett, to force 
a war with Great Britain, in the hope that by this means the then jarring 
sections of our country would unite in a foreign war, and so avert the civil 
strife which they feared they saw approaching. For this purpose Captain 
Pickett gladly volunteered to risk his life, and so endeavored to force the 
Englishmen to open fire upon him when he first occupied the disputed 
island on which the British had settlements, but which was afterwards 
awarded to the United States by the Emperor of Germany, under the 
Geneva Conference. It is certain that in this adventure Pickett would 
gladly have spilled his blood to have averted, at the cost of a foreign 
war, that civil war which he and so many others tried to avert, yet to 
which, when it came, they gave their best efforts — forced into it by 
their principles of honor and affection to their people. 

As soon as the State of Virginia seceded Pickett resigned and re- 
turned to Virginia. The military government on the Pacific coast en- 
deavored to arrest him, but he made his way to Virginia, was immedi- 
ately appointed colonel, afterwards brigadier-general, and in October, 
1S62, was a major-general. At Gaines's Mill he was badly wounded, 
leading his gallant Virginians against the Federals commanded by his 
old captain. General S. Casey, under whom he had in youth gained re- 
nown in the forlorn hope at Chapultepec. He signally defeated the di- 
vision opposed to him. Upon his rapid recovery from his wounds he 
was assigned to the command of that division of the Army of Virginia 
which gained such imperishable renown, that for all time to come the 
proud boast, "I am descended from one of Pickett's men," will be held 
equivalent to the words in France, "One of the Old Guard, which dies 
but never surrenders." 

We here quote, from the Norfolk 'Virginian, an article written a 
few days since, while the great soldier and paladin of the infantry of the 
Confederacy lay dead in that city. 

"But, "says the Norfolk Virginian, "it was the ever memorable 
day of July 3, 1863, that covered Pickett and Pickett's men with imper- 
ishable glory and linked their names with the noblest and saddest story 
of Confederate achievements. The day rose bright and smiling on the 
buoyant hopes of a brave army, till then victorious over all opposition, 
and full of confidence in coming victory. It witnessed an assault which 
for desperate daring has rarely been equaled in the wars of nations, 
Avhen, from the hill which they had occupied, down its descent, and up 



428 APPENDIX. 

to the enemy's front, full half a mile of open and exposed ground, amid' 
the iron hail of two hundred cannon belching shot and canister and 
schrapnel, and the leaden rain poured out from the massed infantry that 
thickly lined the crest of Cemetery Ridge, Pickett, with Kemper and 
Garnett and Armistead, led his division, a forlorn hope, forty-five 
hundred men agaijist the concentrated strength of the Federal army. 
No grander sight ever fascinated the gaze of military men than that of 
those noble heroes charging in steady and unbroken line of battle, 
through smoke and fire and death, up that fatal hill, to and over the 
breastworks that lined it, over two lines of guns, over two lines of in- 
fantry, up to the very brow of the hill, up to the very verge of victory. 
But, alas! it might not be, valor had done its utmost; it was not fated 
that they should win, then and there, another independence day. Un- 
supported, broken, disrupted, scattered, the survivors who reached the 
crest found themselves but the skeleton of the division that but a few 
minutes before had so proudly marched down the opposite descent; 
while around them closed countless masses of hostile infantry and on 
them was concentrated the fire of a dozen batteries; and then com- 
menced the retreat, from which emerged but one-fourth of the command 
before the charge. That charge has gone into history, a testimony to 
the valor of Confederate soldiers that will never fade. " 

The close of the war left Pickett poor and broken. He was a sol- 
dier, pure and simple, of illustrious qualities, and his life from the age 
of fifteen entirely devoted to the profession he so well loved and had so 
adorned. 

General B. F. Butler, who was perhaps as complete an opposite to 
Pickett as the race can produce, made an effort to have him tried by a 
military commission, "organized to convict." Butler had been bottled 
by General Pickett at Bermuda Hundred, and sought this revenge. Gen- 
eral Grant, who, in common with hundreds of the old army, loved Pick- 
ett, saved him. 

After Grant became President he gave further proof of his affection 
by sending for Pickett and offering him the marshalship of the State of 
Virginia. "You can not afford to do this, " said Pickett, "and I can not 
afford to accept it from you. " "I can afford to do whatever I choose, 
Pickett," said the soldier President. The man who had fought for the 
Confederacy realized the difficulties and responsibilities which environed 
both himself and the President of the United States, and persistently 
declined the position which he so much needed. 

The Khedive of Egypt had previously offered him the position of 
brigadier-general in his army; but Pickett refused. As, like all brave 



MEMOIR. 429 

men, he loved his lovely and devoted wife, he refused to leave her for 
foreign service, and accepted the position of general agent of the Wash- 
ington Life Insurance Company of New York, for Virginia, and in the exe- 
cution of his duty in this civil capacity, in Norfolk, his war-worn frame 
succumbed to the disease which attacked him only a few days before. 

Could he have had his wish he had died amid the roar of battle. No 
man of our age has better illustrated the aptitude for war of his class of 
our country, and with these talents for war was united the truest and 
sweetest nature. No man of his time was more beloved of women, of 
men and of soldiers. He was to the latter a rigid disciplinarian, and at 
the same time the soldier's friend. 

Virginia will rank him in her roll of fame with Lee, with Johnston, 
with the Jackson they love as Stonewall; and mourners for the noble 
and gallant gentleman, the able and accomplished soldier, are legion. 

True and noble soul, rest in peace; and may the God he revered give 
that consolation He only can to his devoted wife and namesake son. 



INDEX. 



Adams, J. Q., 103, 133. 

Aldie, 260. 

Alexander, E. P., 223, 283 et seq. 

Alien and sedition laws, 141. 

Allen, R., 160, 210. 

Anderson, G. B., 201. 

Anderson, R. H., 158, 179-186, 196- 
202, 208, 219-224, 233, 243, 265, 
280-300, 349, 354, 380, 382, 393- 

397. 399. 400, 404. 405. 
Antietam, 195 et seq., 216, 219, 256, 
Anti-slavery party, 147. 
Archer, J. J., 272, 274, 305. 
Archer, R., 167. 
Armistead, D. L., 166. 
Armistead, L. A., 95, 168, 205, 211, 

213, 214, 233, 236, 2g$etseq., 308, 

412, 428. 
Armistead, W. K., 214. 
August, T. P., 210. 
Averell, General, 240, 241. 
Avery, R., 206. 
Aylett, W. R., 210, 398, 
Ayres, General, 392. 

B 
Baird, E. R. , 159, 161, 206, 398. 
Bancroft, 105. 

Barksdale, General, 224,249,287,289. 
Barlow, General, 356. 
Barnes, Surgeon-General, 59. 
Barton, General, 331, 339, 347. 
Baynes, Admiral, 121-123. 
Bazalgette, Captain George, 121,123. 



Beauregard, G. T., 263, 338-340, 

342, 345 et seq. 
Belen Gate, 96. 
Bellingham Bay, 97. 
Benjamin, General, 199. 
Benton, Thomas, no. 
Berkeley, N., 158, 161, 170, 210, 398. 
Bermuda Hundred, 340, 347-350, 

357. 362. 
Birney, General, 246, 279 et seq. 
Blaine, James G., 59. 
Blount, J. R., 209. 
Boonsboro, 195, 210, 216. 
Boston, S. A., 160. 
Bragg, B., 324, 342, 347-349- 
Breckenridge, General J. C, 2, n, 

355- 
Bright, R. A., 206, 334, 398. 
Bristoe Station, 192. 
Brockenbrough, General, 305. 
Brooke, F. W., 206. 
Brooks, F. E., 413. 
Brown, Captain, 197. 
Brown, John, 135 et seq, 
Bryant, Captain, 398. 
Buena Vista, 215. 

Buford, General, 265, 271-273, 284. 
Bull Run, 191, 192, 2og. 
Bumford, Captain, 94, 95. 
Burnside, General A. E., 196, 199, 

202-203, 209, 219-232, 234, 240- 

242. 330, 331. 337. 355- 
Butterfield, General, 179. 
Butler, B, F., 8, 30, 59, 86, 87, 339- 

342, 344, 349, 365, 428. 



431 



432 



INDEX. 



Cabell, H. C, 207. 
Cabell, J. C, 203, 297, 348. 
Calhoun, J. C, 144, 145. 
Campbell, A., 107. 
Campbell, M. VanB., 206. 
Canal de Haro, 108-110. 
Carrington, H. A., 159, 210, 398. 
Carroll, Lieutenant, 208, 238. 
Cary, R. M., 210, 398. 
Casey, General S. , 97, 164, 166. 
Caskie, W. H., 207, 208. 
Cerro Gordo, 93, 95, 129. 
Chamberlain, Colonel, 286. 
Chambersburg, 219, 257, 
Chancellor, C. W., 206. 
Chancellorsville, 239, 244 et seg. 
Chantilly, 193. 

Chapultepec, 94-96, 129, 214, 426. 
Chester, 357 ei seg., 377, 
Chew, R. S., 210, 398. 
Churubusco, 94, 95, 129. 
Clay, H., 132, 133, 145. 
Cleburne, General, 229. 
Clingman, General, 331, 334, 335, 

341- 
Cobb, General, 183, 230. 
Cochrane, H. P., 206, 398. 
Cocos Plain, 92. 
Cold Harbor, 176-178, 182, 352 ei 

seg. 
CoUado, 91. 
Colquitt, General, 347. 
Colston, General, 157, 160, 169. 
Colt, Colonel, 166. 
Commercial Convention, 146. 
Comte de Paris, 156. 
Confederation, Articles of, 139. 
Connecticut, 143. 
Convention of Maritime States, 143. 



Contreras, 94, 129. 

Cooke, General J. R., 225, 230. 

Cooke, Major G. T., 339. 

Cooke, J. E., 26. 

Cooper, S., 336. 

Corse, M. D., 159, 209-210, 216- 
217, 233, 236, 293, 317, 331, 332, 
334. 337. 347. 348. 380, 383, 384, 
388, 390, 392-397. 406. 

Couch, General, 164, 241, 243, 244. 

Cowan, Colonel, 411. 

Cox, General, 199. 

Cralle, C. C, 317. 

Crampton 's Gap, 196, 197, 

Crawford, General, 389, 392. 

Crocker, J. F. , 298. 

Croxton, Captain, 161, 

Culpeper Court-house, 219. 

Gushing, Colonel, 308. 

Cutler, General, 273. 

D 
Daniel, General, 276, 
Daughter of Confederacy, 419. 
Davis, J., I, 155, 156, 187, 263, 322, 

348. 385. 
Davis, J. R., 272, 305. 
Dearing, Jas., 158, 206-209, 237, 243, 

297. 331. 333. 334. 338. 
Deserter, letter of, 368. 
Dinwiddie Court-house, 379 ei seg., 

386. 
Dix, General, 262. 
Donelson, Fort, 175. 
Doubleday, General, 200, 226, 274— 

277. 
Drake, Sir Francis, 100. 
Drayton, General, 202. 
Dred Scott Decision, 134. 
Drury's Bluff, 175, 210, 346 ei seg. 
Dudley, M., 322. 



INDEX. 



433 



Dunn, Captain, 397. 

Dutch Gap Canal, 86, 87, 357, 363. 



Early, General J. A., 155, 201, 210, 
213, 215, 244, 245, 248, 262-266, 
274, 276, 283, 355. 

"East Lynne, " 326. 

Edmonds, E. C, 210. 

Edmonds, W. B., 206, 398. 

Egypt, Khedive of, 428. 

Elzey, General, 325. 

Emancipation Proclamation, 204, 

253. 

Embargo Act, 143. 

Estvan, Colonel, 183, 185. 

Evans, General, 193. 

Ewell, General R. S., 155. 192. 198, 
200, 225, 226, 257, 258, 260, 262, 
264, 265, 274-278, 280, 282, 285, 
290, 291, 294, 297, 355, 404. 

F 
Fairfax, R., 206. 
Fair Oaks, 162. 
Field, General, 355. 
Fitzhugh, Captain, 398. 
Five Forks, 10, 11, 217, 385 et seq. 
Florence, W., 72, 73, 
Floweree, Colonel C. C, 209, 288, 

289, 362, 389, 398. 
Floyd, C, 206. 
Fontaine, C. R., 211. 
Foster, General, 331, 
Franklin, General W. B., 163, 187, 

196, 220, 222, 233, 241, 242. 
Frazier 's Farm, 187 et seq., 217, 218 
Frazier, J. T., 366. 
Frederick City, 195. 
Fredericksburg, 206, 215, 217, 221 

226-232, 234, 241. 



French, General, 238, 239. 
French, General W. H., 183, 227, 

230, 261. 
Friend, T. R., 206. 
Fry, Colonel, 347. 
Funsten, D., 210. 



Gaines's Mill, 176 et seq., 187, 209- 

211, 218, 353, 427. 
Gamble, General, 272, 273. 
Gantt, H., 159-160, 210, 398, 
Garland, General S., 163, 197. 210, 

398. 
Garnett, General R. B., 196, 198, 

202, 203, 205, 212, 233, 237, 295, 

300, 303-304- 307. 412. 
Geary, General, 296. 
Gee, Captain, 395. 
Georgia, 131 et seq. 
Getty, General, 230, 262. 
Gettysburg, 206-211, 213, 215, 217, 

257, 261, 263, 265, 267 ^^ seq., 408 

et seq. 
Gibbon, General, 226, 356, 
Giles, J., 210. 
Glendale, 187. 
Godwin, D., 210. 
Gordon, General J. B., 276, 277. 
Gordonsville, 221. 
Gossett, I. W., 206. 
Gracie, General, 383. 
Grammer, J., 210. 
Grant, General U. S., 8, 59, 60, 84, 
85. 341. 344. 348. 349. 351. 353- 
356, 372, 384-386, 403, 407, 428. 
Grattan, Captain, 405. 
Graves, E. E., 4. 
Gray, Captain R., 103. 
Gregg, General, 265. 
Green, W. E., 121, 398. 



434 



INDEX. 



Greene, G. S., 291. 
Greene, O. D., 129. 
Griggs, G. K., 210. 
Grigsby, General, 200, 201. 

H 
Hagerstown, 195, 196. 
Halleck, General, 191, 200, 256, 261. 
Hambrick, Colonel, 348. 
Hamilton, A., 139, 141. 
Hampton, W., 165, 166, 294. 
Hancock, General W. S., 228, 230, 

277-279, 281, 288, 295, 356. 
Hardie, J. A., 261. 
Harney, General, in, 112, 426. 
Haro Archipelago, 105, 107. 
Harper's Ferry, 195-198. 
Harris, Colonel D. B., 339. 
Harris, Lieutenant, 398. 
Harrison, A. T., 210. 
Harrison, W., 179, 206, 293, 317, 

318, 339, 340, 347, 398, 406. 
Hartford Convention, 143, 
Hatton, General, 165. 
Hayes, R. B., 197. 
Haygood, General, 342. 
Hays, General, 277, 290. 
Hazlett, Captain, 286. 
Heckman, General, 348. 
Heintzelman, General, 163-165. 
Hempston, R., 206. 
Henry's Battery, 243, 297. 
Henry, Patrick, 132. 
Herbert, A., 210, 398. 
Heth, General, 258, 265, 271, 272, 

274, 276, 280, 295, 300, 355, 382, 

397, 400. 
Higginson, T. W., 135. 
High Bridge, 207. 
Hill, A. P., 157, 158, 176, 178, 186, 

188, 192, ig6, 203, 215, 225, 226, 



233, 257, 259, 262, 264, 265, 271, 
272, 275, 277, 281, 283, 285, 289- 
290, 294, 297, 310, 355, 385, 400. 

Hill, D, H., 155-157, 163, 164, 166- 
169, 188, 195, 201, 224-226, 244. 

Hodges, J. G. , 210, 263, 398. 

Hodgkin, Dr. J. B., 191. 

Hoke, Genera], 277, 290, 331-334, 

339. 347. 354- 

Hood, General J. B., 165, 167, 168, 

179, 185, 193. 199, 201, 217, 223, 

225, 226, 230, 233, 236, 239, 243, 

260, 280, 282, 283, 285, 286, 294, 

371- 
Hooker, J., 188, 196, 199-202, 217, 

220, 222, 224, 230, 231, 241-249, 

257-261, 263, 264. 
Howard, General, 230, 244, 246, 274, 

275, 281, 290, 295. 
Huger, General, 156, 163, 164, 187, 

188, 205, 214, 405. 
Humphreys, General, 231, 28S, 297. 
Hunt, General, 228, 265. 
Hunter, R. M. T., 372, 373. 
Hunton, Colonel E., 179, 187-189, 

191, 210, 217, 218, 337, 349, 354, 

380, 3S3, 389, 393, 395-397. 400- 

I 
Idaho, 100. 

Imboden, General, 259, 260, 293, 312. 
Indians, 97, 113. 
Indian War, 97. 
Ingalls, R., 23, 24, 84, 358. 
Irby, Colonel, 159. 
Iverson, General, 275, 276, 

J 
Jackson, T. J., 96, 155, 175, 178, 
179, 182, 186-188, 191-193, 195- 
201, 212, 219, 223, 225, 226, 244, 

246-248. 



INDEX. 



435 



Jefferson, Joe, 74. 

Jefferson, Thos., 132, 139, 142, 144. 

Jenkins, General M., 187, 1^6, 202, 

205, 217, 233, 236, 239, 259, 262- 

264, 293, 317. 
Johnson, B. , 381, 393, 

Johnson, General Edward, 262, 264, 

265, 277, 283, 291, 296. 
Johnston, A., 126, 320. 
Johnston, J. E., 93, 95, 154-157, 163- 

167, 170, 175, 3S5, 398, 403. 
Joinville, Prince de, 181. 
Jones, D. R., 155, 199, 202. 
Jones, H., 398. 
Jones, J. H., 354, 
Jones, S., 257, 260. 

K 

Kautz, General, 384, 395, 396. 

Kean, Charles, 74. 

Kearny, General Phil., 188, 193. 

Keenan, Major, 246. 

Keene, E. F., 211. 

Kemper, General W. L., 177, 179, 
186, 193, 205, 208, 209, 214-216, 
233-234. 237, 295, 300, 304, 347. 

Kentucky resolutions, 141, 145. 

Kernstown, 212. 

Kershaw, General, 230, 354, 355. 

Keyes, General, 163-165, 262. 

Kilpatrick, General, 265, 294. 

Kirby, General, 165. 

L 

Lafayette, 207. 
Lane, General, 305. 
Langhorne, M. S., 210, 398. 
Last review, 375. 
Latham, Captain, 208. 
Lawton, General, 200, 201. 
Lee, F., 11, 192, 199, 355, 380, 382, 
388, 393-395- 



Lee, R. E., 11, 92, 136, 156, 175, 
178, 179, 183, 185, 190, 191, 194, 
i95> i97> i99i 203, 204, 221-223, 
225, 229, 232, 236, 239, 241-245, 
247, 249, 254-264, 266, 270, 272, 
277, 278, 280-284, 289, 290, 293- 
296, 298, 310-313, 333, 338, 348, 
350, 351. 354. 355. 36v, 379-381. 
385- 386, 393, 402, 403, 421. 

Lee, S. D., 193, 199, 203, 

Lee, W. H. F., 11, 22], 382-384, 
388, 391-395- 

"Lee's Miserables, " 358. 

Leitch, S. G., 206, 398. 

Lewis, M. M., 206, 398, 406. 

Lincoln, A., i, 8, 30, 126-128, 204, 
241-243, 249, 254, 344, 372-373, 
408, 412, 

Linthicum, C. S. , 354. 

Logan, Colonel, 347. 

Long, A. L., 257. 

Longstreet, J. A.. 94, 95, 155-158, 
163-165, 167, 179, 185, 187, 1S8, 
190-193, 195 196, 198, 199, 202, 
203, 205, 208, 214, 215, 217, 219, 
222, 223, 230, 232-237, 239, 243, 
257-260, 262, 263, 272, 277, 278, 
281-283, 285, 289, 290, 294-296, 
300-302, 310-312, 316, 318, 319, 
324, 325, 349, 350, 354, 380, 392, 
397. 426. 

"Lost Order," 195. 

Louisiana Tigers, 290. 

Lynchburg, 208, 209. 

Lyons, Judge, 5. 

M 

McAlpine, J. A., 206. 
McCall, General, 188. 
McCandless, General, 288. 
McCauly, Corporal, 95. 



436 



INDEX. 



McCausland, General, 388. 
McClellan, G. B., 154, 155. I57. 163, 
175, 176, 177, 181-183, 185, 195, 
196, 199, 2do, 219, 220, 354, 425. 
McGowan, General, 383. 
Mcintosh, General, 203, 271. 

MacKenzie, General, 384. 

McKinley, President, 419. 

McLane, 109.' 

McLaws, General L., 163, 195-197. 
201, 219, 222-223, 225, 227, 230, 
236, 243, 249, 260, 280, 283, 287, 
288, 294. 

McMillan, Colonel, 223. 

McPhail, Captain^ 203. 

Macon, M. C, 207. 

Madison, James, 142-143, 145, 146. 

Magruder, Colonel, 398. 

Magruder, General J. B., 93, 96, 
155, 156, 207, 211, 214. 

Mahone, General, 169, 350, 380, 404. 

Maish, Surgeon, 188. 

Malvern Hill, 190, 208, 210, 214. 

Manassas, 191 et seg., 208, 209, 215. 

Manning, Captain, 161. 

Mansfield, General, 200, 201. 

Marshall, Lieutenant, 208. 

Marshall, Judge, 132. 

Martin, General, 334. 

Martinsburg, 195, 196. 

Marye, L. S., 207. 

Marye, M., 210, 398. 

Maury, R. L. , 210. 

Mayo, J., 209. 

Mayo, Colonel R., 5, 188, 394, 398. 

Meade, D., 206, 226, 244, 261, 265, 
270, 271, 274, 279-284, 295, 303, 

356. 
Meagher, General T. F., 183, 228- 

230, 287. 
Meredith, General, 273-275. 



Meredith; Judge, 5. 
Mexican War, 90 et seg. 
Mexico, City of, 91, 95, 96, 129. 
Milroy, General, 259. 
Molino del Rey, 94, 95, 129. 
Montague, E. B., 210, 398. 
Monterey, 91. 
Montezuma, 94. 
Mumford, Colonel, 396. 

N 
Napoleon, 102, 104, 142, 231. 
Napoleon III., 251. 
Newbern report, 333 et seg. 
Newton, General, 281. 
Nootka Sound, 100. 
Nootka treaty, 102. 
Nullification, 144. 

O 

Oglethorpe, J., 131. 
O'Neal, General, 275. 
Oregon, 97 et seg. , 426. 
Orizaba, 91. 
O'Rourke, P.. 286. 
Otey, K., 210, 398. 
Owens, J., 210. 

P 

Patton, W. T., 209, 398. 
Peace Commission, 372 et seg. 
Pegram, Colonel, 271. 382, 389, 391, 

393. 396. 
Pender, General, 265, 271, 276, 280, 

283, 288, 295, 300. 
Pendleton, General, 257, 310, 312, 

366. 
Perry, General, 289. 
Petersburg, 337-344> 4°°- 
Pettigrew, General, 165, 271, 274, 

276, 295, 300, 305, 411. 
Peyton, Colonel, 398. 



INDEX. 



437 



Philadelphia Brigade, 409 et seq. 
Phillips, Colonel J. J., 210, 298, 317, 

320, 398. 
Phillips, Dr. J. T., 320, 339. 

Phillips, W., 136. 

Pickett, Major C, 22, 158, 159, 161, 
167, 169, 189, 206, 398. 

Pickett, G. E., 90-98, iii, 112, 114, 
115, 117, 120, 123 et seq., 129, 
150, 154, 157, 158, 167, 170, 176, 
177, 179-182, 185-191, 193, 196, 
198, 202, 203, 205-209, 213-219, 
225, 226, 230, 234-239, 243, 260, 
263, 280, 283, 293-313, 315-329, 
331, 333, 336-345^^5^5'., 353, 355, 
359, 362, 363, 365, 371, 374, 375 
ct seq., 379 et seq., 386 et seq., 
399-407, 408, 413, 425. 

Pitt, loi. 

Piatt, Dr., 321. 

Pleasanton, A., 219, 231, 246, 247, 
25S, 260, 284. 

Plymouth, 206. 

Polk, President, 215. 

Pope, General, 191-194. 

Porter, General, 163, 178, 183, 193, 
204. 

Preston, R. T., 154, 180, 398. 

Pryor, General R., 159-161, 168, 
169, 209. 

Q 

Quincy, J., 142. 
Quitman, General, 96, 

R 

Randolph, M., 87. 

Randolph, W., 87. 

Randolph, Secretary of War, 182. 

Ransom, General, 222, 225, 230, 

339, 347, 348, 382, 388-395, 397, 

400. 



Reid, 331. 
Reid, Mayne, 96. 
Reno, General, 196, 197. 
Reynolds, General, 259, 265, 272, 

273, 281. 
Richards, Captain, 108, 120. 
Richardson, General, 202, 310, 312 
Richmond, i et seq., 86, 87, 170 et 

seq., 400, 402, 403. 
Ricketts, General, 201, 290. 
Robertson, General, 192, 257, 285. 
Rodes, General, 201, 202, 244, 262, 

264, 265, 274, 275, 277, 283, 291. 
Rodman, General, 202. 
Rosario Strait, 105, 108-110, 
Rosecrans, General, 256. 
Rosser, General, 11, 382, 383, 388, 

393- 
Rupert, Prince, 99, 105, 106. 
Rust, A., 210. 
Rutherford, J., 207, 
Ryals, J., 206. 



Sailor's Creek, 217, 218, 399-407. 

Salem, 192. 

Saltillo, 91. 

San Antonio, 129, 212. 

Sanborn, F. B., 135. 

San Cosme, 96. 

San Juan, 23, 105-121, 426, 427. 

San Juan de Ulloa, 91. 

Santa Anna, 92, 93, 96, 

Saunders, B., 76. 

Savage Station, 184. 

Scales, General, 305. 

Schimmelpfennig, General, 275, 276 

Schurz, General C, 275. 

Scott, R. T., 206, 398. 

Scott, W. S., 90-92, 96, 112, 121. 

Secession, 139 et seq. 



438 



INDEX. 



Sedgwick, General, 165, 188, 201, 

245, 248, 249, 265, 281, 295. 
Seven Pines, 162 et seq.^ 175, 209, 

214, 217. 
Seward, Secretary, 372, 373. 
Shaw, Colonel, 332. 
Shenandoah, 176. 
Sheridan, Phil., 350, 354, 376, 381, 

384 et seg., 403-405, 407. 
Sherman, E. A., 90, 95. 
Sherman, W. T., 60, 371. 
Sickles, General, 244, 247, 248, 275, 

279, 281, 283, 284, 287, 291, 294, 

295. 
Sigel, General, 241. 
Simpson, R. H., 349. 
Skinner, F. G., 209. 
Slaughter, P. P., 175, 180, 211, 398. 
Slavery, 130 et seg. 
Slocum, General, 188, 244, 246, 261, 

279, 281, 291. 
Smith, Captain, 360. 
Smith, General, 276. 
Smith, G. W., 155, 156, 163-166. 
Smith, W. F., 354, 356. 
Snelling, J. G. S., 88, 94. 
Sorrel, G. M., 161, 180. 
South Mountain, 195, 196. 
Spain, 250. 

Stanton, Secretary, 59. 
Stearns, G. L., 135. 
Steinwehr, General, 277, 381. 
Stephens, Alexander, 372, 373. 
Stevens, A. H., 4, 6, 7. 
Stevens, Colonel, 290, 348. 
Stevens, Governor, 427. 
Stewart, General, 406. 
Stone, General, 274, 276. 
Stoneman, General, 243. 
Strange, J. R., 154, 159, 170, 180, 
188, 189, 197, 210, 218, 398. 



Stribling, R. M., 208, 238, 239. 
Stuart, J. E. B., 191, 192, 197, 208, 

219, 248, 257-261, 265, 294. 
Stuart, W. D., 175, 203, 206, 211, 

380, 388-391, 393, 395, 398. 
Stultz, G., 206. 
Sturgis, General, 202, 230. 
Buckley, Dr. George, 14, 19, 22, 23, 

24, 26. 
Suffolk, 208, 209, 236. 
Sullivan, I. E., 208. 
Sumner, General E. V., 163, 165, 

201, 220-222, 224, 230, 231, 242. 
Sykes, General, 245, 281, 286, 295. 
Symington, W, S., 189, 206, 398, 



Taliaferro, General, 192, 225, 226. 
Taylor, General Z., 91, 192, 214, 

215. 
Taylor, W. H., 363, 393, 398. 
Terry, General, 210, 331, 337, 339, 

347, 348, 380, 383, 384, 388, 390, 

393-398, 406. 
Texas, 90, 96, 129 147, 212, 426. 
Thompson, A., 371. 
Thoroughfare Gap, 192. 
Tomlin, H. B., 210. 
Toombs, General, 202, 208. 
Tree, Ellen, 73. 
Trimble, General, 244, 295,300, 302, 

305. 
Turkey Island, 8, 86 et seg., 208. 
Turner's Gap, 196, 197. 
Twiggs, General, 93. 
Tyler, Dr., 366. 
Tyler, President, 214. 

U 

Underwriter, 335. 
Utrecht, treaty of, 102. 



INDEX. 



439 



Vancouver's Island, 100,105,107-110. 

Velasco, 93. 

Vera Cruz, 90-92, 95, 129. 

Vincent, General, 286. 

Virginia resolutions, 141. 

W 

Wadsworth, General, 273, 277, 281, 

291. 
Walker, General J, G., 155, 195, 

198, 201. 
Wallace, T. P., 206, 382, 388, 389, 

391-396. 
Walter, Colonel, 170. 
Walton, General, 227. 
Warren, General, 285, 286, 356, 383, 

384, 388, 389, 391, 395, 396. 
Waterloo Bridge, 191. 
Watts, W., 210. 
Weed, General, 199, 286. 
Weiderick, General, 290, 
Weitzel, General, 4. 



Wessells, General, 337. 

White, W., 210, 398. 

White House, 184, 262. 

Whitford, 333. 

Whiting, General, 165, 179, 180, 

182, 186, 346-349. 
Whitlock, J., 206. 
Wilcox, General, 155, 157-159, 169, 

289, 295, 302, 397, 400. 
Wilderness, 353, 356. 
Williams, A. W., 206. 
Williams, L. B., 209. 
Williamsburg, 154 et seq., 175, 215. 
Wise, General, 342, 383, 405. 
Withers, Colonel R. E., 154, i7o, 

179, 180, 210, 398. 
Wood, R. T., 331, 333-335- 
Wright, General, 202, 289, 311. 



York, 257. 
Yorktown, 156, 262. 
Young, 363. 



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